St.
Brigit’s Well
On the day that the Cliffs of Moher was our major
destination we stopped enroute at St.
Brigid’s Well. There are several spellings of Brigid but I’m using the
common Irish spelling. Our guide explained, “Born in the 5th
century, Brigid’s mother was a Christian slave and her dad a pagan chieftain. She and other slaves worked
hard, but Brigid was always kind to the other slaves as well as to all animals
and birds. She gave her father’s treasured sword to a poor beggar. Although
angry at first, her father became proud of his daughter and came to understand the
meaning of charity.
“Brigid built the first Irish
convent by an oak tree and the church in Kildare became known as the Church of the Oak. While explaining the
Passion to a dying pagan she wove a cross from rushes found in the River
Shannon. Today this rush cross is placed in the rafters of cottages on the
feast of St. Brigit to protect the home from evil and want. The feast day is
February 1, the day Brigit died in 524. She died in Kildare. Her bones are
buried with St. Patrick in Down Patrick.”
The area is nicely landscaped and a
bronze stature of Brigit stands near the well. It’s been a sacred place for
centuries. It’s peaceful and quiet and seems to be in the middle of nowhere,
but is actually in County Kildare not far from other activities. It is not a
must see shrine or on many tourist lists, but is worth a visit, especially if
you are motoring through the countryside.
Cliffs of Moher
The majestic flat-topped
‘mountains’ known as the Cliffs of Moher
rise vertically some 650 –700 feet out of the sea and are a breath taking
natural site. Five different rock layers can be seen in the strata of the
formations. Running five miles, north to south along the coast they are one of
Ireland’s signature landmarks. O’Brien’s Tower, a brooding sentinel, is built
on the cliff’s highest point. The walled steps to the right of the tower
paralleling the cliff’s edge were built in 1835 by Cornelius O’Brien, the
proprietor of the land.
Remarkably the area supports large numbers of
seabirds and puffins where black shale and sandstone provide sheltered ledges
for the birds to nest.
A new visitor center was being built
so we had to maneuver around a fair amount of construction. The new visitor
center is being built into the hillside and will be quite well camouflaged to
blend in with the environment. It will be considerably larger than the present
center and will house a café as well as a gift shop. We walked up a long moderately steep incline for good viewing. It
was a bit misty, but not enough to warrant opening an umbrella. The path to the
Tower was closed.
The cliffs are a popular tourist
site and are really quite amazing. We saw many birds flying about, but
unfortunately I was not able to identify them, as I’m not much of a birder.
From all that I’d read, I looked forward to this visit and was not
disappointed. Riding the country side in a van to get there was an added plus.
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