This prayer appears in my book, The Roots of Irish Wisdom. O Holy Spirit, hasten to us! Move round about us, in us, through us! All our deadened souls’ desires Inflame anew with heavenly fires! Yea! let each heart become a hostel Of Thy bright Presence Pentecostal. Whose power from pestilence and slaughter Shall shield…
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The Spiritual Blessing of Celtic Prayer
From The Roots of Irish Wisdom. “One of the most difficult things to grasp is seeing the eternal God within others and ourselves. The truth today is that God is still here, but we are often blind to him. The Celtic monk Pelagius said that God is visible, because everywhere ‘narrow shafts of divine light pierce…
As we moved to the dark half of the year
Amazon Affiliate links are used in this post. Clicking doesn’t cost you more but helps support me. I know many people complain about the shortening daylight hours beginning in autumn (in the Northern Hemisphere). Personally I like observing the changing of the seasons. Each time has beauty of its own. I like this cozy season…
More from the Carmina Gadelica
In the last half of the 19th century Alexander Carmichael collected poems, prayers, and songs from the people of the Highlands of Scotland and the Scottish islands and translated them from Gaelic to English. His collection is known as the Carmina Gadelica, or Songs in Gaelic. Although it’s clear that Carmichael used a style of…
A Legend About St. Columcille
This post originally appeared in an older blog and has been updated. I’m going to share one of my favorite legends about one of the three patron saints of Ireland, St. Columcille. Better known by his Latin name, St. Columba, he was the founder of Iona. He is also the subject of the first Loch…
The Celtic Circle
Circles are important in Celtic culture. The ancient sacred spaces were circles or enclosed by circles. Many buildings were circular. Towers were round. Celtic crosses bear circular rings. Did the ancients look to the heavenly bodies in the sky for inspiration? Or did they feel safe enclosed in a circle, like in a mother’s arms?…
Dublin Irish Festival
Dublin, Ohio, that is. Like Dayton, I’ve been going to this festival for a long time. It feels like a reunion as each year I get to chat with vendors I’ve known a long time and reconnect with the wonderful staff at the Book Loft of German Village. I should note that this is the…
Cubs World Series Anniversary
Amazon affiliate links are used in this post. On the last day of June, Scott and I received an email from the Chicago Cubs historian Ed Hartig. In case you don’t know Scott Brown (who happens to be my cousin) and I wrote a biography on the great Cubs pitcher Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown. Scott…
Dayton Celtic Festival 2026
We’ve been in the cultural area at the Dayton festival for more years than I can count. The people in the Dayton area have been wonderful supporters of my books and I usually get to see some old friends when I’m there. I attended high school and college in the area and still have many…
A Revolutionary Story
This is how the story evolved… Way before the internet existed, my husband’s grandfather received some information on the Thomson family from his uncle who researched at the New York Public Library. Much of what he learned about more recent generations was accurate but about the earlier generations some was not. We didn’t know that…