Just in time for Holy Week.
Author: Cindy Thomson
What I Did On Spring Break
Remember in school when you had to write an essay on “What I did on summer vacation”? Well, if anyone’s interested I’m going to tell you what I did on Spring Break 2022. At the beginning of the pandemic lockdown I started a journal because as someone interested in history, I thought it might be…
St. Patrick’s Day in 2022
With the pandemic winding down, events have started again, which means there are parades, live music, festivals! I watched a live stream of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin, Ireland, and listened to some sessions in a real Irish pub in the west of Ireland. Here are few photos. See that large sweater (called…
Stop 3 on the Ancient Brigid Tour: St. Brigid’s Kildare
The only explanation I can think of of why I didn’t go to Kildare before this is that I was saving it to experience with you in 2023! My first trip to Ireland was four years after the publication of Brigid of Ireland and I suppose I was focused on other things, but I’m so…
5 Best Irish Immigrant Historical Novels
I made a list! These are great books. There are more, but at this moment in time they are the best I’ve read. Have you read them? My book shows up in the preview, but I did not pick my own book, just in case you were wondering. I could only pick five, so… https://shepherd.com/best-books/irish-immigrant-historical-fiction…
On the Eve of The Feast of St. Brigid
On the eve of St. Brigid’s Day, in many areas of Ireland, children weave St. Brigid’s crosses. A new one each year. Spring comes sooner to Ireland than it does where I live. There are snowdrops popping up out of the ground. Lately many areas of Ireland are seeing snow, but the calendar clicks over…
St. Brigid’s Day: National Holiday in Ireland
Beginning in 2023, February 1, the feast day of St. Brigid, will become a state holiday in Ireland. Now, I ask you, is it a coincidence that we are going to Ireland in 2023 to visit sites connected with her on the #ancientbrigidtour2023 ? (see the photo in the sidebar) This is pretty exciting! We’ll…
Stop 2 on the Ancient Brigid Tour: Glendalough
In the Wicklow Mountains, just south of Dublin, lies a site significant to the development of Christianity during the Golden Age of Monasticism. The original monastic settlement at Glendalough was found by St. Kevin who was born in 498. This makes him approximately a contemporary of St. Brigid. Brigid was probably born in 451 and…
Looking Back to Ireland in 2010
I posted this after our first trip to Ireland. It was a time of great delight in finally seeing the land I had been longing to see, and also a time of sorrow. I hope it can still serve to describe to readers what wonders await if you plan a trip to Ireland. This is…
Nineteenth Century Irish Poor
What do you think of when you think of the poor in Ireland? Chances are it’s The Potato Famine, which prompted mass emigration from 1845-1852. But the problem started earlier than the potato blight. The island was overpopulated and a great many people who could not afford to go to America or Canada to seek a new…
