Glenstal Abbey

This weekend we all went to Glenstal Abbey, a Benedictine Abbey.  We all had a wonderful time as we joined the monks for prior as well as some study.  Fr. Macnamara, one of the monks, teaches at the seminary in Maynooth and he taught us a little about the parables and looking at them in ways that we may have not done before.  We also received a tour of the place from one of the monks.

We started our tour right outside the gates of the Abbey

A Mass rock, that was used by the Irish during the Penal Laws

Part of the tour of the abbey included a Mass rock.  A Mass rock was a place that the Irish would going to celebrate Mass during the time of the Penal Laws.  That time period was especially difficult for Catholics as they were not allowed to celebrate the Mass, so they went deep into the woods and celebrated in secret.

We explored he Rock of Cashel

On Sunday, we left the Abbey after Mass and lunch and on our way home (to Maynooth) made a couple of stops.  One of those stops was to the Rock of Cashel.  The Rock of Cashel was a fortress of a Church situated on top of a hill.  We had a lot of fun walking about the ruins of the church that had been abandoned because of the cost to maintain.  There have since been efforts made to restore and maintain what remains.  It was a really nice day and we had a beautiful opportunity to look at the greenness of the Irish countryside.