Ireland and Scotland Pilgrimage 2008
Saint Kevin’s Chapel in Glendalaugh, Ireland
Our Ireland Connection:
A Celtic Pilgrimage with poet laureate John O’Donohue in the West of Ireland, had been planned by the Sacred Art of Living Center,
for May of 2008. We so eagerly looked forward to being with John in his beloved Connemara. John’s untimely death in January of
2008 changed our plans, and broke our hearts. We’ve found some comfort in his comment, “An Anam Cara will be more userful
to you after death than while alive…”, and have had a sense of his continued presence with us as the Center’s
connections to Ireland have blossomed in the months since his passing.
Richard and Mary’s trip to Ireland in June included time spent at Our Lady’s Hospice of Dublin, one of Europe’s oldest
health care institutions. From their conversations with the people of Our Lady’s Hospice emerged a mutual high regard for the work
being done by each organization, and resulted in our first Pilot Site for the Sacred Art of Living and Dying Series in Ireland!
Surely John O’Donohue is smiling!
The first program Unit will be held in Dublin in January of 2009, the beginning of what we hope will be a long and blessed relationship,
furthering the work of nurturing spirituality internationally in end-of-life care.
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Signpost on Saint Kevin’s Way, a pilgrimage path still used in Ireland
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Burial Site located on The Burren in the Conemara region of Ireland
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Pilgrimage to the Island of Iona, Scotland:
Forty-one souls experienced walking the Pilgrim's Path on the Sacred Island of Iona, Scotland, for seven days in June, 2008.
We were accompanied by Fionntulach, leader of The Celi De Community, who led us in meditation each morning, and taught us
daily in the rich traditions of Celtic spirituality. Each evening we gathered with Mary and Richard Groves who wove our
days together using John O'Donohue's book Benedictus, encouraging us in the way of Blessing.
In between gatherings, we reveled in Iona's beauty! We walked miles together, and in solitude, in search of sacred ground.
And we enjoyed the wonderful hospitality, and gourmet cuisine of St. Columba Hotel, an establishment caring for Pilgrims on
Iona since 1868!
The Celts have long known Iona as a "thin place" graced with the sense of Heaven meeting Earth. Those of us who sojourned
together in June have surely carried something of that grace home, not to mention a pebble or two from Columba's Bay!
There is an on-going conversation about returning to Ireland and Scotland with another group of Pilgrims, tentatively set for
May of 2010. Stay tuned for further developments!
"... being on Iona is akin to being present on the first day of Creation..."
Sentiment of a Pilgrim
Pilgrims on their way to Columba’s Bay, on the Island
of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland
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Mary and Richard Groves on their Ireland adventure
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