I hesitate to refer to either of the following as ‘objects’, but they can be touched, and they can touch me back…when they feel like it, or when I let them.
Just outside Kildare, at the Solas Bhride Centre, is this statue, fittingly enough, of St. Brigid. You can visit, if you’d like, but be warned; HERE THERE BE NUNS.
They’re nice nuns, though. Although Solas Bhride is a Christian Spirituality Centre, according to it’s website (solasbhride.ie), it “welcomes people of all faiths and of no faith.” This works out quite well for me since I can be either one depending on my current state of affairs.
This is also a place of great historical importance, for it was here that a flame in Brigid’s honour was kept burning continuously from pagan times until the reign of Henry VIII, who was famous far and wide for “ruining it for everybody.”
Luckily for some of us, this sacred flame was re-kindled in 1993.
Not a part of the Solas Bhride Centre, but not far from there, is a sacred well, also associated with St. Brigid, and her pre-Christian namesake.
This I refer to as “The Atheist’s Foxhole.” Not out loud, though. The well is tended to by the Girl Guides. They are far meaner than nuns. Also, you never know, there could be some of the Good Neighbours about and you REALLY do not want to rouse their ire.
In all seriousness, they are very special places to me, containing special objects that helped shape my life.
Na trioblóidí 
Ha! I went to a school run by nuns. Got a poem about it over on my Poetikat Unbound blog.
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Sorry to hear it! Can’t wait to read the poem, though. 🙂
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Here’s the link, if you’d like to read it. https://kat5361.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/magpie-tales-31/
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Thanks!
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Is ‘Here There Be Nuns’ a quote from Father Ted? I think it is the best comedy show of all time. I went to a convent school so know about the perils of close proximity to those sometimes terrifying women.
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It never occurred to me that might be a Father Ted quote, but it wouldn’t surprise me one bit—I loved that show, so it may have seeped into my subconscious. I’ve actually been fooling around with the idea of a regular Sunday post entitled ‘Solemn Vow Sundays’ featuring a Father Ted-like character—but with a much darker sense of humour. Thanks for reading, Katherine. Sorry about the nuns! 🙂
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Thank you
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Thank you for reading.
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Nuns have always scared me. I used to get spanked by nuns when I was young. Those rulers can hurt.
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My Dad snatched a ruler out of one’s hand when he was in school and broke it front of her face. That put an end to that. I went to publics, but we would have nuns as substitutes from time to time. They’d hit us everywhere but the top of the head. Then they’d hit us on top of the head. But the nuns at Solas Bhride are nice. Thanks for reading. Sorry about the brief history of nuns. 🙂 Bad habit. Get it? Habit? Eh?
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Your dad’s my hero! I’m glad to hear there are nice nuns there. Haha! Your joke reminds me of a riddle:
How much fun does a priest have? Answer: Nun
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The photos convey a sublime calmness, as well as details of the statue’s artistry and patina. The diffuse light of cloudy days has its uses.
The statue of St. Brigid is beautiful and eloquent, with the figure and the cross linked by merging the top of her staff into the center of the cross. Tho I do not know the specific incidents depicted on the bas reliefs, I can get the drift and admire the use of the space on that style of cross.
Glad to hear that Solas Bhride “welcomes people of all faiths and of no faith” and is run by nice nuns who keep the sacred flame lit. As U have shown, it is the special kind of place that moves people, whatever their religious status may be.
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Thanks for reading and your observations; I chose to use a photo of that particular statue (there are others) because of the way the staff grows into the disk at the centre of the cross. (I was always told that the disk at the centre of a Celtic cross represented the sun and the pagan beliefs of pre-Christian Irish, the cross bisecting it, a marriage between the two religions, or the domination of Christianity over native beliefs. Prefer the former explanation, but it’s beautiful to look at either way.) The place has changed quite bit over the years, but it can still have a calming effect. Thanks again for reading and your kind comments.
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