Ireland Trip 2023

 I am going to pick up this blog again for my current trip to Ireland. It had been put off because of COVID and my election as Abbot. But we are now in Dublin--my sister Cathy, her husband Dan, and me. On this trip I am connecting with Curleys both living and dead.    

Murroe, Co. Limerick

Glenstal Abbey is in the town of Murroe. 

It is in many ways a typical, small Irish town. Memories of the Irish War of Independence can be found in several places. In the center of town is a cross commemorating those who gave their lives during the war.

Because they were seen as martyrs, they were buried just outside the local church, in the area usually reserved for priests.

Clonmacnois

I spent a couple of days with Gerry and Assumpta Burke, enjoying their hospitality and Ailish's cookies. Gerry drove me around to see some of the places our ancestors came from, and try to connect with some.

On the way back to Glenstal Abbey, we stopped at Clonmacnois, an important early Christian site in Co. Offaly, overlooking the Shannon. 

The site has two round towers and several high crosses. The original high crosses have been moved inside for preservation, and replaced with castings.

Connecting with Curleys

 I am currently enjoying the hospitality of Gerry and Assumpta Burke. Gerry took me yesterday to speak with a woman from the area who told me about different Kilcommonses and Curleys, and gave me leads. Today Gerry and I went to see Father Joyce, an SVD, who is related to the Kilcommonses. We had a nice tour of the castle that now houses the SVD community. Bert Curley, son of Michael William Curley, used to run the print shop there. His son Shane now runs the shop. When we went to see Shane, he was not there. We headed off to see Bert Curley at home, but he was at a funeral. I spoke with his son, who confirmed that he had an uncle, Pat Joe Curley, a priest in Mississippi. He also mentioned an uncle Michael Curley, who lives in Old Tappan, NJ. We then headed off to see Bert's sister, Sr. Agnes Curley, R.S.M., but she was not home.

We went for lunch, and it turns out that very likely the Curleys were there at the same place having the repast after the funeral. Sr. Agnes just phoned a little while ago to say that she was driving over to see me. Given their connection to Kilcommonses and Joyces, and the fact that they come from the same area, they are very possibly relatives.

    

Glenstal Abbey

A few weeks ago, I took a bus from Ballinasloe to Galway, another bus from Galway to Limerick, and a taxi from Limerick to Glenstal Abbey in Murroe.

The abbey is on about 500 acres, and includes the monastery, a boarding school, a farm, and a dairy herd. It was founded from Maredsous Abbey in Belgium in 1927, and is located in what was the Barrington estate, an 1839 castle designed to look as if it had been built in the Middle Ages.

Depending on the day, you may be greeted as you drive or walk in by the herd of dairy cows. It is a fifteen-minute walk from the front gate to the monastery.

The monastic office uses mostly Gregorian chant, and some of the offices each day are in Latin.

The area is great for walking. There are a number of paths through the woods. The monastic cemetery is down one path.

Glenstal founded a monastery in Africa, now an independent house. Two of the monks are buried there, but they are commemorated in the cemetery at Glenstal.

There is also a Mass rock on the property, in what is called Cappercullen Glen. It dates to penal times, when it was illegal to practice the Catholic faith in Ireland. Sentries would be posted up above, to warn those down below if the authorities were coming.

The approach to the Mass Rock

The Mass Rock from the rear

During penal times, the rock woud have been unadorned. The altar and any other items needed would have been set up for Mass, and taken down immediately after Mass was over. In more recent times, a permanent altar has been installed, and panels from the ruins of the old Cistercian monastery have been incorporated.

St. Patrick's Purgatory and Ballinasloe

While I was at Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, I accompanied a group of parishioners on a one-day pilgrimage to Lough Derg, also known as St. Patrick's Purgatory.

Traditionally, pilgrims go during the summer and spend three days on the island, walking in bare feet and fasting. But lately they have added one-day pilgrimages during August and September.

You need to take a ferry to get to the island. The day begins with prayer in the church. Then you have a penitential lunch of soup and sandwich. I was looking forward to my penitential lunch, but the priests on staff grabbed me and the curate from Knock and brought us in to eat lunch with the staff. Then, since it was apparently the largest crowd they have ever had on the island, they asked if we would help with confessions. So I spent a couple of hours in the confessional. I guess that was my penance.

After confessions, we celebrated Mass, and then headed home.

The "penitential beds" that St. Patrick and his companions slept on.

After my stay in Letterkenny, I went back to Dublin for a few days (where I stayed at Mercy Center) and then went to Ballinasloe for a few days. It is in the heart of "Curley" country, but I still didn't have any luck finding Curley relatives. It was while I was in Ballinasloe, though, that Martin Curley took me to East Keeloges, where we met Michael Kilcommons and his family

St. Michael's Church, Ballinasloe

One of the side streets in Ballinasloe

There is a nice park in Ballinasloe, near an 18th century bridge that incorporates a medieval bridge.

The marina leads to the River Suck, which also runs through the area that the Kilcommonses came from.

Some more pictures from Dublin and Letterkenny

Here are just a few pictures from my two stays in Dublin, and from my stay in Letterkenny.


I came upon this store on one of my walks through Dublin.

There are many public monuments in Dublin. This is one of two memorials to the Famine. It is one of the many famine memorials throughout Ireland.

"Famine" by Edward Delaney, St. Stephen's Green, Dublin

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin

At St. Patrick's Cathedral is the reputed site of St. Patrick's well.

The Law Officers Memorial in Dublin

Scenes from Letterkenny (where I spent three weeks at the cathedral).

The Church of Ireland Church (parts date to the 17th century) on the left, the R.C. Cathedral (1901) on the right.

In Letterkenny, I met one of the Church of Ireland priests, who made sure I saw the monuments that are found going up the hill from Cathedral Square.

The monument to those killed in the First World War

The monument at the site of Sentry Hill, where the men would watch our for the British while Mass was being celebrated at the local Mass rock.

One of the doors of Letterkenny Cathedral

Pretty much every town of any size had a workhouse during the Famine, and they all had cemeteries with unmarked graves.

View of Letterkenny from across the river