Vacation planning is a lot like lesson planning in the classroom and preparing for SoulFully You retreats and workshops I lead. I always over-plan. When my friend Sara invited me to go on a Celtic Christianity pilgrimage, I dove headfirst into researching all the possible places we could spend four days before the pilgrimage began. I found enough possibilities for a four-week vacation!
Visiting the monastic ruins of Glendalough, the holy wells of St. Brigid, and the High Crosses of Monasterboice, to name a few sacred sites on the pilgrimage, was all I had hoped for. But I hadn’t expected to be so enamored by the diversity and beauty of Ireland’s landscape, its rich culture and history, and the hospitality of locals and tourists.
So often, I found myself saying, “Joe would love this.” I knew I needed to come back with my husband, that he would enjoy the Irish pubs, beautiful scenery, and visiting with locals. And, of course, I was thinking about all the places I had learned about that I still wanted to see.
And so it happened, I asked my husband whether he would like to go in May or September the following year. (See how I did that?) We decided on May, the best time to see wildflowers blooming in the Burren. I pulled up my research spreadsheet and got to work planning a two-week vacation. Again, over planning is my gift, so we decided on a few days shy of three weeks. Our friends, Dave and Kristine, who we met when our daughters were five years old (that’s 26 years ago!) would join us for most of the trip, and to my delight they let me plan the itinerary!
When deciding where to go, I knew I had to return to Solas Bhride in Kildare, the “thin place” where one of our pilgrims, Mike, had a medical emergency and passed away. The Sisters of Solas Bhride Centre & Hermitages had been so compassionate and hospitable, offering a gathering place for prayer and reflection, serving tea and cookies, and welcoming us to experience the presence of Brigid throughout the center, in its garden, labyrinth, and sacred art.
I enjoyed visiting with Sr. Rita Minehan and when I purchased her book Rekindling the Flame: A Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Brigid of Kildare, she eagerly signed it. I learned even more about the sacred sites of St. Brigid nearby, including the Cathedral, the parish church, a holy well, and the village itself.
With the help of Sr. Rita’s book, we planned a pilgrimage day to Kildare, returning to Solas Bhride, where Mike crossed life’s greatest threshold, from the here to the hereafter. Sr. Rita welcomed my husband and me, sharing local art and memorabilia from “St. Brigid: A Woman, A Life, A Legacy,” a celebration of the 1500th anniversary of the death of St. Brigid, and the first year that the Feast of St. Brigid was declared a national holiday in Ireland. More about St. Brigid here.
After Sr. Rita led a spontaneous prayer, we observed a moment of silence in the Brigid room where our pilgrimage group had gathered, and where the Brigid Flame, re-lit in 1993, is tended. It burns today as a beacon of hope, justice, and peace for our world. Reconnecting with the Sisters, holding Mike’s family in prayer, and walking the grounds of the Solas Bhride was healing.
The hospitality one encounters on the journey is one of the gifts of a pilgrimage. The same is true for this trip with Joe, Dave and Kristine. We visited many abbeys, churches, and holy wells, but just as sacred and memorable were the people met along the way.
Just a few kindnesses we encountered—
–The woman at the back of St. Kildare’s parish church. She heard us talking and asked Kris and me if we knew each other well. She said she loved how we talked with such kindness to each other and asked us where we were from. We replied, “The United States. Nebraska.” She said, “Oh my, I have to give you a hug!”
–The woman walking her dog at St. Stephen’s Park. She heard us talking about where we were going next. She asked if we were enjoying our trip, where we were from, and gave us 15 minutes of directions and advice for our travels.
–The woman in Kinsale, a local traveler from Galway. Over coffee and pastries, she shared how she and her husband traveled by camper van. She gave us recommendations of restaurants in towns we were to visit.
–The Irish ladies in the parking lot at Kerry Cliffs. Joe put his hoodie sweatshirt on backwards and they howled with laughter, saying, “You can see if I cut a hole in that.” We shared pleasantries and left with smiles on our face.
–Lagom’s Townhouse kitchen help. Foley’s Pub employees. The gas station attendant. One morning, while staying in Kenmare, Joe couldn’t find his wallet. At breakfast, the kitchen staff went into support mode while Joe returned to all the locations he had been to the night before—a gas station where he bought water and a pub where libations were served. After Joe and Kris had scrapped over who was buying the beer, Joe laid his wallet on the counter and left it there. We learned, after Joe retrieved his wallet from the pub, that employees had tried to find Joe on the street. They secured it for when he might return, and he did! The wallet was found. Locals, other guests and Lagom employees asked if Joe had found his wallet throughout the day. When Joe returned to the gas station the next day, the guy asked if he found his wallet. He laughed and said “There’s a lesson in there” when Joe told him it was at a pub.
–The couple from Frankfurt that we saw in Kenmare, Dingle, and Kerry Cliffs. We talked about the similarities of our trips and the state of world affairs, particularly in the UK, Germany and the United States. From locals and visitors, we received kindness, compassion, words of encouragement and hope about current affairs in the U.S.
–An Irishman who found an American credit card in the parking lot. He hurriedly walked up the pathway, asking each person he encountered if they had lost a credit card. He went back to his car and called the credit card company to report the loss.
-The Irish driver who backed up to let us by on the narrow roads in the Burren. “How you getting on?” he asked, “Enjoy your day!”
-The Daly family. I stayed at Daly’s House B&B on my first trip and had to bring Joe, Kris and Dave to this special village to meet the Dalys. A highlight of our trip was the extraordinary hospitality from Susan, Sarah, Kate, and John.
–Sean Malloy of Toormakeady, County Mayo, where some of Joe’s ancestors came from. This kind man saw us taking photos at the town sign and welcomed us. We discussed Joe’s family tree, and he shared that he was also an American citizen, having lived in Chicago for a dozen years before returning to his home country, Ireland. He offered to show us to the cemetery to look for graves with the family names Gibbons and Heneghan.
-Our friend, Dave, Kristine’s husband. When Kris’ hair dryer, and subsequently her hair, caught fire, Dave kindly threw the hairdryer out the window. All is well, lesson learned.
Hospitality is about building bridges and making connections with others. Many more pub and parking lot conversations were reminders of how important small acts of kindness are in being hospitable. We were so excited to watch Cardinal Robert Prevost’s first speech as Pope Leo XIV while in Kinsale (shortly after the hair dryer incident.) He shared, “Help each other to build bridges, with dialogue, with meetings, uniting us all to be one people, always in peace…We can be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, that is always open to receive everyone, just like in this square, to welcome everyone, in charity, dialogue and love.”
Building bridges can happen anywhere, anytime. Our trip to Ireland surpassed our expectations. I can’t imagine NOT going back again. And, of course, I have enough research for a few more trips.
Being Benedictine 
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