W.B. Yeats was born on this day. What’s your favorite Yeats poem? Here is mine. I especially like the first half. It gets a little pessimistic in the second half, but that’s Yeats, and well, sometimes that’s life too. But what I like is the image it forms so perfectly in my head. The carefree…
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The Feast of St. Columba
His Other Names I prefer the Irish Columcille, which means Dove of the Church. He was originally named Crimthann, which in Irish means Fox. However, once he was fostered in the church he gained this new name. It’s said he had a temper, so perhaps this name was in jest. It came to fit him…
Stop Four on the Ancient Brigid Tour: Rock of Cashel
If you’ve been following these posts, please know that these posts are in no particular order and do not reflect the actual schedule of the #ancientbrigidtour2023 , just sites we will be visiting sometime on the trip. The ancient seat of the Kings of Munster, the Rock of Cashel sits high on a hill overlooking…
Happy St. Brendan’s Day!
When we were in Ireland my husband and I made a trip to Clonfert, the site where St. Brendan set up his monastery. It’s not so easy to get to, but I’m so glad we figured it out. This site turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. The church,…
Counting Down to Ireland!
There is still room! Sign up to join us. This is going to be epic! Tues. May 10 I’ll be going live on Facebook to talk about the places we’re going and take questions.
New Contest to Win Inspirational Books
Just in time for Holy Week.
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…