Thin Places

I recently learned the term "thin places."  It is Celtic lore that heaven and hell are merely 3 feet apart. And in some places, the thin places, the separation is even smaller. While a thin place need not be a religious place, it is a place where one might feel the presence of the divine, a spiritual place, perhaps.

[And what of evil and proximity to hell?*1 I'm too old not to have had the experience, but this writing is not about those places - maybe another time.]

As I read the description, the list (my list) of sacred thin places began to take shape, the Frio River*2 in central Texas (and Indian Point, along the coast). But the next few places that came to me are all in Ireland - the Fairy Glen (don't ask for a location and I won't have to lie to you), Glendalough, the Rock of Slane, the woods at Coole Park, Gallarus Oratory, Slea Head, Poulnabrone.  And now I add An Riasc (the Reask Monastic site) and Cill Mhaoilcéadair (Kilmalkedar Church), both on the Dingle Peninsula, and Cill Ailleach (Killilagh Church and churchyard) near Doolin.

What might be a thin place for me may not be one for you, but it seems that many (most?)  thin place experiences are shared (perhaps accounting for tales of hauntings and ghosts). I am willing to share some today. Feel free to come along, or not.

How do I know when I am there? It is a warming of the heart*3  or  sudden unexpected tears or a feeling of other.  I slow down, seek silence, and simply try to be present in a place. 

And the veil between dimensions is lifted for a instant. 

And I am changed. 

So here are a few of the special places (some we've known before) we encountered on our recent trip:

Killilagh Church and churchyard (or Cill Ailleach, which means “church of the cliffs”)

The church (15th century or thereabouts) is in ruins.*4 The entire property is a graveyard. It is an ankle eating place with graves side by side. Perhaps it was the sky and the sun that worked some trickery on me. Whatever the case, it is a very special place, a thin place. I visited four times in two days. That alone should have been indication, had any been needed.

Killilagh Church - turn west at McDermott's Pub and keep walking. You will come to it.

It almost seems to be waiting.

If stones could talk.

The graves are closely spaced and tall makers, quite simple and  beautiful.

Lichen and moss cover these silent stones.

I was arriving from the east as a mist was moving in from the west.

The gate stands open.

Just inside the gate, in the southwest corner one stone stands alone.

Inside the church.

The arched entrance to a wing of the church.

The remaining rock walls of the church a patchwork of stone.

The texture of the stones a hint as to construction?

Each window with a view.

The sun was still high although it was late - past my bedtime.

With apologies, I took over 100 photos here.

A view from the back of the churchyard.

And on a different night:

While alcohol plays no part for me, this pint rested on a wall just outside of the churchyard.

Poulnabrone:

Poulnabrone*5 is in the middle of nowhere - in the Burren - an almost alien landscape. Full of cracks and fissures, it is amazing anything lives here. I have seen it in the depths of winter and "dismal" doesn't start to describe it (I suspect that time in the Burren could cause one to experience that thinning of place - like spending 40 days and nights in the desert).

In the spring and summer, the rains bring flowers - orchids and others. We walked to the portal dolmen, a tomb some 6000 years old. It seems as if the dolmen watches you as you approach across the cracked surface and you watch your footing. We saw the orchids growing only a few inches from the ground (carefully roped off so no one would trample or pick them - one may not pick anything here. All is protected).

At the tomb our intrepid guide, Hugh Carthy *5.1,  shared his knowledge of the geology and history of the area. And then we waited. We felt the sun and wind.

Looking down I found an orchid growing at my feet. In a crevice this tiny jewel bloomed for only a moment,  a whisper in time.

I am not lying -it's an alien landscape.

Water catches in hollows

But flowers bloom in the spring and summer.

Tiny orchids - really.

They are only a few inches high.

The tomb

Ferns and tiny pink flowers to be identified later.

Brambles

Another view of the dolmen.

A goodly number of us out at the tomb.

When I looked down and saw the orchid - it was a confluence of energy -  landscape-tomb-sun-wind-precious flower.

We continued our trip out along the coast road. The bus stopped and we walked to where the rock meets the sea.

More wildflowers.

Bloody Cranesbill

Looking east.

Looking up the road and towards the ocean.

Fossils?

Do you see the land in the distance? I want to say these are the Aran Islands. We were along the coastal cliff road and there are places where you can see to Galway as well.

The sun was shining on the sea.

And meanwhile, on the Dingle Peninsula:

Gallarus Oratory

Gallarus*6 has been "gift-shopped and visitor centered" over the years. No longer is there a panicked examination of the map and search for the old rusted signs. Outside it is an impressive feat of construction. Made with no mortar, it is rain-tight. The outside and surrounding area feel somewhat sanitized.

But inside...

...inside is dark and quiet. People whisper. Light comes in from the door and one window opposite. The thin place is inside.

Walls meet in a roughly shaped corner above the window.

The window glows.

I stood and watched as a bird came again and again to the window. It continued to be disturbed by people without and within coming too close.

Finally it perched - just inside the window. Carrying something - a worm, an insect, a twig - it lit for an instant and then flew away.

A standing stone graved with a cross (inside a circle) and the name "COLUM MAC DINET"

Looking out from the path.

An Riasc (the Reask Monastic site):

An ancient monastic site, the excavation is relatively recent. Our guide to Reask and Kilmakedar was  Simon Ó Faoláin, an archaeologist and a poet.*7 Simon patiently explained inscriptions and those things about the site he felt we should know. It was the explanation of the cillín*8 (anglicized - killeen), a cemetery for unbaptized babies, that opened the door to the thin place.

It began to rain. People headed to the bus.

Some of us stayed to view the crosses and walk to the area of the cillín. The soil would have dissolved the human remains, but the excavators found buttons. And so they knew the babies were here.

One could almost feel the despair of a family, fearing their stillborn or otherwise unbaptized child would be denied a decent burial in consecrated ground, would be denied heaven. They chose this ancient holy place, consecrated, for their children's rest.

In the dead of night the father or brother or uncle would bring a small bundle and place them here where heaven is close by.

One side of Reask showing standing stones.*9

Simon Ó Faoláin explaining the site. He spoke like the poet he is.

A standing stone with crosses inscribed. Beyond is the cillín.

A Greek cross is carved into this stone as well as other symbols.

The crosses carved on these (and other stones removed to museum) are Latin and  Greek. This is a Latin cross.

Cill Mhaoilcéadair (Kilmalkedar Church)

What was it about Kilmalkedar?*10 It may have been knowing that the work of the ancients were removed from their original sites and placed here, in this churchyard. Was it some kind of spirit magnet that caused people to move these objects? We were drawn here as they were drawn here.

The church itself is extraordinary with alphabet inscribed stones and unusual architectural features - including the faces on and near the front wall.

There was a certain gravity here.

That's weird light - a photo taken from the bus as the rain came.

The ancient sundial

Simon, wood stick in hand, demonstrated how the sundial was designed to work. But because it is no longer in its original location it does not.

The opposite side of the sundial.

Early graves had no engraving. People assumed they would remember where their family members were. Concepts of time were different then.

It is thought that gospel stories were painted on this cross originally (same concept as the carved "high crosses" but different medium).

Simon explains the marking on the Ogham stone. This stone is unusual for the hole at the top. It was used by locals to bind agreements/contracts. It is another transplant. The stone was located somewhere else and moved to this churchyard. How does it work? Each party sticks a finger in the hole (from opposite sides) and they touch fingers. The agreement is then binding - like "shaking on it," but perhaps with more moral weight because of the location of the binding.

The elaborately carved arched door to the church. See the face?

The face.

A tiger head to the left  of the entry.

And one to the right. The soft stone and wicked weather conspire to dissolve these faces.

The church is built with a band of yellow stone midway up the walls (and it goes all around the church).

I don't remember the identity of this face, but it is just a little scary.

Simon with the Alphabet stone.

Alphabet on one side, cross on another.

Details of interior archway.

Interior archway

Another view of interior of the church.

View of the countryside from the door.

And, finally,  there was this, a circular ring - rising in a field. Dingle is dotted with these circles. We were told that farmers usually left them alone out of superstitious connection with the fairies (and you mustn't disturb the fairies).*11

Perhaps all of Dingle is just a little closer than three feet.

This green circle, seen through a rain marked bus window, is likely an ancient farmstead enclosure designed to keep people and animals safe from predators (two legged and 4 legged).

NOTES:

*1 While my thoughts turned immediately towards the light, I also have recalled experiencing places of evil and a few evil people in my life. Two such blood chilling dark places are Dachau and Flossenburg work/concentration camps. And the people? I have met only a few people who made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. But there have been moments when that voice in my head said, "Go! Run! Leave this person. Leave this place." I try to listen to that voice.

And I know other such places exist. I have heard them described - often by soldiers.

*2 http://www.explorefaith.org/mystery/mysteryThinPlaces.html and http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/thin-places/ (I was amused to see this was about the Frio).  See also: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/travel/thin-places-where-we-are-jolted-out-of-old-ways-of-seeing-the-world.html?_r=0

*3 Thanks for the words, John Wesley. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/wesley/journal.vi.ii.xvi.html

*4 http://www.johncaplisphotography.com/galleries/ireland-galleries/ireland-killilagh-church-and-graveyard/ (someone else who took a bunch of photos).

*5 Poulnabrone is not far from Doolin out in County Clare. In 2007 the family arrived down the wrong road. It was early spring and had been raining. We drove down a dirt lane and prayed our way through the muddy ruts. The dolmen was deserted. But we were there to share it's strangeness, and presence.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poulnabrone_dolmen

*5.1 I thought this might make you read the footnote. Hugh Carthy has written Burren Archaeology, A Tour Guide (The Collins Press). If you plan to be in this part of the country you will want to pick up a copy. If you are interested in Ireland, you want a copy. This small volume is packed full of information. It is the next best thing to having Hugh guide your tour.

*6 http://www.voicesfromthedawn.com/gallarus-oratory/ (still the coolest site I have found for Gallarus)

*7 Check out some of Simon's work in Irish and English translation:
     http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/22528

*8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cill%C3%ADn

*9 http://www.megalithicireland.com/Reask.htm

*10 http://www.megalithicireland.com/Kilmalkedar.htm

*11 At an earlier stop we were told that a person would put up only a portion of a cottage and then leave it for a time. If the stones were not disturbed then you were not building on a fairy path and could complete the construction. In all my travels here I never heard anyone speak seriously of the fairies - only sharing tales and folklore with a wink and a nod.