So last weekend a group of us went on a tour, led by the amazing Tom Keith, around the near by towns of Dungarvan. It was a long yet interesting day and, while the weather may have been windy and freezing, I would do it again in a heartbeat. Basically we toured many of the old historic churches and ruins in the surrounding area close to Dungarvan. Tom, as always, had many interesting facts and stories about each and every stop.
Our first stop took us up into the hills of Waterford County to see an old church and monastery. The view was amazing and the church was beautiful. Our next stop was Lismore Castle. Sadly we were not able to go in. The reason being that a Duke actually lives in Lismore Castle. I would imagine it would be a bit weird to have your home invaded by a group of foreign college students. We got some great pictures of the outside of the castle though.
We then went to see several other churches, some dating back to around 600 AD if I remember correctly! Our last stop took us near the sea; St. Declan's Well. From what I can remember, St. Declan used to retreat to this area by the ocean for reflection and prayer and he built a small stone building there (now only one wall remains) and there was also a well built there. Nowadays, once a year people come to St. Declan's well and they take a small stone and etch a cross into the last remaining wall. We did this as well while there. The amazing thing about this was that you could see just how long people have held this tradition...some of the crosses etched in were a few inches deep due to the many many times the cross had been written there by visiting people. Wow right?!
Over all it was a very enjoyable way to spend a Friday and I cannot wait until the next trip Tom may plan for us.
Till then!
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