Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts

7/10/2007

Cotoneaster

[ . BACK to TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Cotoneaster

***** Location: Ireland, other countries
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Plant


*****************************
Explanation





Any of various erect or creeping shrubs of the genus Cotoneaster in the rose family, native to Eurasia (Himalayas). Small-leaved cotoneaster, also called rockspray or entire-leaved cotoneaster, is a once-common garden shrub which has now become naturalised and established in many wild situations.

A low-growing or prostrate evergreen shrub producing numerous small white to pinkish flowers which are followed by tiny, bright red or black fleshy berries containing two or more hard stones. Has flowers and, and frequently cultivated for ornament.

The leathery leaves are c. 7 mm long, oval with a notch at the tips, dark green and shiny. In many places, especially rock exposures in quarries, on crags, or on masonry. There is an extensive colony on crags on Garron Head high above Garron Tower, County Antrim.
http://www.habitas.org.uk/


Kudryavitsky Anatoly

*****************************
Worldwide use


*****************************
Things found on the way



*****************************
HAIKU


Cotoneaster
where an orchestra of bees
tunes up for summer


Clare McDonnell


*****************************
Related words


***** WKD
: Ireland Saijiki, Irish Saijiki


*****************************

Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

Cornflower

[ . BACK to TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Cornflower

***** Location: Ireland, other countries
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Plant


*****************************
Explanation

The bright blue Cornflower was once a common sight in the countryside through the months of July, August and September. In the past it grew as a weed in fields of corn on light soils and was very plentiful - sadly, it is now on the edge of extinction except for a population found on the Aran Islands and in Wicklow.

The Cornflower has many cultivated relations, and these are very popular as fresh cut and dried flowers. Cornflower is proven to help grain grow due to root secretions and is now used as a beneficial weed in some USA grain crops. In 1992 Design By Nature saved the Irish Cornflower from extinction. However pollen from garden strains of cornflower effected the crop in 1998 and the breeding program had to be restarted again.
http://www.wildflowers.ie/

Anatoly Kudryavitsky






*****************************
Worldwide use

Germany
Kornblume


*****************************
Things found on the way



*****************************
HAIKU





her eyes, blue sky -
and now only these
cornflowers


by Anatoly Kudryavitsky
(from 'Morning at Mount Ring', DOGHOUSE Books, 2007)

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Meines Papas knotige Hände
pflanzen Zwiebeln.
Eine Kornblume blüht im Krug.


Aksiniya Mihailova. Bulgarien

*****************************
Related words

***** WKD
: Ireland Saijiki, Irish Saijiki



*****************************

Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

11/09/2006

Winter solstice

[ . BACK to TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Winter Solstice

***** Location: Ireland
***** Season: Mid-Winter
***** Category: Season


*****************************
Explanation

Each year, the main observance of the winter solstice in Ireland is to marvel at the spectacular pictures showing the light of the rising sun entering the megalithic passage tomb at Newgrange and illuminating the burial chamber. Archaeologists are convinced that this is the result of careful and deliberate planning at the construction of the tumulus.

Every year, a number of people chosen by a draw, as well as politicians and journalists, make the pilgrimage to Newgrange in order to witness the unique spectacle. For the rest of the population, the pleasure comes from the news reports and the stunning pictures published in the newspapers. Amazingly, almost every year has a clear sunrise on 21 December, and very few winter solstices are spoilt by clouds or rain at the long awaited moment.

Isabelle Prondzynski, 2006

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


[Photo © http://www.knowth.com/winter-solstice/new-grange-2006.jpg]

Read much more about the megalithic passage tombs in Ireland, with some splendid photographs :
http://www.knowth.com/


Solstice pictures of several years, including 2006 :
http://www.knowth.com/winter-solstice.htm


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Winter begins slow farewell after long night closes
(© Irish Times, 22 December 2006)

No light ever seems as bright or as sudden as that on a Solstice morning. This is the sun that rises after the longest night, writes Eileen Battersby (Irish Times, 22 December 2006).



A stream of golden sunlight passes through the window box and along the passageway leading into the burial chamber of Newgrange during yesterday’s winter Solstice on the shortest day of the year.
Photograph: The Irish Times

Long before daybreak, the signs were good. The heavens were casting off the Dickensian fog that had shrouded the Boyne Valley, and many other areas, during a 48-hour spell of damp, murky weather that made one suspect that time might be better spent re-reading Bleak House than waiting for the sun.

As the Newgrange watchers and Save Tara protesters gathered at the Stone Age monument, one of the finest passage tombs in Western Europe, knowing smiles set the tone.

After two dull mornings in which the Boyne itself had been invisible, the optimists had been rewarded.
A formidable trio consisting of nature, the ancients and global warming had decided on an impressive Christmas present - a golden sunrise.

Night suddenly became day and the monument and its resident battalion of sentry-like standing stones emerged from the purple darkness.

The air was cold but dry, perfect. Early arrivals noted the appearance of a handsome black Labrador. Too busy to notice the lone rabbit that froze statue-like before darting into a nearby hedge, Nick seemed businesslike, deliberate, impressively self-possessed. Two years of age, he is an experienced sniffer dog - his brief to check out the monument. Down the passageway he went, indifferent to the archaeology but intent on his task.

On leaving the monument, he walked down the hill, his Garda handler at his side and settled down with a sigh. Sharing the back of the van was his good-looking sidekick, Hesky, a German Shepherd, eager if far less a specialist.

"He does patrol work," said his handler. Nick sighed again. Trained by the British Metropolitan police, he is an ambitious character who needs a challenge.

The chosen few, those who had won Solstice tickets as well as the usual Government Ministers filed by on their way into the mound. The rest of us waited, aware the show had already begun. Beneath a brightening sky, the warm pink turned to yellow as a blister of orange on the horizon began to take shape. The tree-lined ridge across the valley seemed to shimmer. By 8.45am, the sun was poised to break free. No light ever seems as bright or as sudden as that on a Solstice morning. This is the sun that rises after the longest night.

A woman wearing a pair of balloons, began to sway and wave her arms at the sun. "Is she trying to levitate?" asked an onlooker. "I hope not," answered his companion, "but that one over there might set herself alight." Oblivious to those of us watching the sun, stood a forlorn acrobat with a hoola hoop.

A number of cups attached to it were blazing. Meanwhile by 8.51am, on cue, the sun was displaying an emphatic sense of purpose, and had broken free of the horizon. Within five minutes, it was well clear of the ridge and was casting a bright light over the valley. The river, which had been a swollen torrent, for day had become a silver ribbon.

Faces turned away from the sky to the quartz-faced monument. A great beam of yellow was pouring through the roof box. Cameras were held aloft as were mobile phones - all recording the moment. The light began to withdraw, its mission completed. Suddenly the party which had been inside the chamber, made its way out. As the first figures descended the steps, the sun moved behind the clouds. Nature and ancient man had said enough, winter had symbolically begun its slow farewell.

© 2006 The Irish Times

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


*****************************
Worldwide use

Winter Solstice worldwide


*****************************
Things found on the way



*****************************
HAIKU


home for Christmas --
searching the paper for
the solstice views

Isabelle Prondzynski, 2006

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Winter matriarch.
Solstice dawn dream takes me home,
Chamber at Newgrange.


Wayne Atherton - Eliot, ME (USA)
http://www.pplp.org/Haiku/Archive2003.htm


*****************************
Related words

***** Winter Solstice worldwide

*****************************

Please send your contributions to Gabi Greve
worldkigo .....

Back to the Worldkigo Index
http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/

7/20/2006

Storm, gale

[ . BACK to Worldkigo TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Storms and gales, winter storms

***** Location: Ireland, other Atlantic countries of Europe

***** Season: late autumn / early winter
***** Category: Heaven


*****************************

Explanation

In Ireland, storms, gales and hurricanes are a regular phenomenon of late autumn and winter. These are often the tail ends of the American ones, having crossed the Atlantic and regained force -- more recently, they seem to be increasing in frequency and strength, probably a sign of global warming.

Such strong winds in Ireland leave in their wake trees bent, broken and destroyed, flooding, impassable roads, major power failures, telephone cuts and costly damage to houses and farm buildings. Many commercial woodlands are criss-crossed with trees that failed to fall all the way in a hurricane, as they were held up by their neighbours. Such trees often adapt to their new positions and send new shoots upwards.



The storms are particularly strong in the Atlantic countries of Europe, where the North American hurricanes, after crossing the Atlantic, make first landfall and strike with all their force. Ireland, being most exposed, is hardest hit, but Britain also suffers at times, as do the Atlantic regions of France.

© Text and Photo, Isabelle Prondzynski, December 2006

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Heavy rain and high winds batter Ireland
31/12/2006

Heavy rain and extreme winds have wreaked havoc across the country today, with gales of over 120km/h (75mph) reported in some places.

The west and north of the country have borne the brunt of the squally showers and heavy rains.
Galway city and county was battered by a thunderstorm this afternoon, while coastal regions are being pounded by high swells and strong winds.

Some 20,000 people are without electricity today after high winds brought down power lines.
The ESB said the worst affected areas are in Cavan, Longford, Monaghan and parts of the Midlands.

Motorists have been advised not to travel unless strictly necessary. The Dublin Port Tunnel is closed due to an apparent electrical fault and Stena Line and Irish Ferries sailings were cancelled earlier today due to the adverse weather.

Tonight's planned New Year's Eve party at Belfast City Hall has also been called off due to worries over safety after high winds were forecast. Up to 10,000 people had been expected to line the streets outside City Hall to see stars including Tony Christie, soul singer Beverley Knight and rock band The Thrills.

Met Éireann said the winds will ease this evening, although tonight will stay cold and windy, with clear spells and scattered heavy showers, with some hail or thunder possible.

New Year's Day is expected to turn cold with sunshine and showers. Some of the showers will be heavy and possibly thundery. Sleet or snow is possible over high ground.

© 2006 http://www.ireland.com/

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next storm was only a few days away :


Storm causes power outages, disrupts travel
Mark Rodden and Alexandra Cochrane

Transport and other services were seriously disrupted yesterday as a result of stormy overnight conditions that continued into the morning.

Air and ferry services were curtailed, while thousands of Bank of Ireland customers were deprived of ATM and other card facilities due to power cuts caused by the bad weather.

Met Éireann reported gusts of 140km/h (87mph) at Malin Head, Donegal, yesterday morning and a number of homes in the county were left without power for a time as the winds hampered repair work.

Dublin airport reported that domestic flights using small aircraft were worst affected by the weather. Aer Arann cancelled 14 flights at Galway, Cork, Dublin, Donegal and Kerry airports. Flights were running on schedule in the afternoon.

Conditions also forced Ryanair to cancel two flights to Bristol and Glasgow in the morning, with passengers being accommodated on later flights. Aer Lingus cancelled one flight to Heathrow after the weather also caused delays to their services. Passengers were accommodated later.

Irish Ferries's 9.30am Rosslare-Pembroke service was cancelled, which meant that there was no afternoon return journey.

Stena Line sailings on the Dublin to Holyhead route were cancelled, as were services from Rosslare to Fishguard. Services from Rosslare and Dublin Port were expected to resume yesterday evening.

In the North, more than 1,500 homes were left without electricity after gale force winds brought down power lines. Enniskillen, Omagh and Coleraine were the worst affected areas.

Bank of Ireland said the disruption to its services was down to a "serious ESB power outage" early yesterday that affected its systems. The outage hit the company's computer centre at Cabinteely in Dublin from about 6.30am yesterday, causing problems to its entire network and affecting branch, ATM and other card facilities.

© 2007 The Irish Times
http://www.ireland.com/


*****************************
Worldwide use

Wind in various kigo

*****************************
Things found on the way



*****************************
HAIKU


leaking roof --
not enough buckets for
this storm

stormy night --
the still scent of the
potted cyclamens

stormy morning --
trees, clouds and birds all speed
in the same direction

howling gales --
the kitchen door opened
invisibly



... ... ...

storm damage --
the trees of our youth
grown old with us




© Photo and Haiku, Isabelle Prondzynski, 2006

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

bitter autumn storm_
the dogs stop barking
in the village


Tomislav Vujcic


sleepless night
of subtle noises
drifting leaves


Ali Miyazawa

http://www.asahi.com/english/haiku/051029.html

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

midnight gale
distant typhoon shows
my existence

Reiko Nishimura


Relaxing
tub filled to the brim
typhoon passes


Sagami Matsuda

http://www.asahi.com/english/haiku/040927.html

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

last night's gale--
incredibly quiet
this morning


http://haiku-eg.cocolog-nifty.com/haiku_ryo/cat4102929/index.html


*****************************
Related words

***** Wind in various kigo

***** Typhoon, Hurricane

***** Monsoon

***** Haboob, sandstorm Arizona, USA


[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

12/01/2005

Laetare

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

Mothering Sunday, Laetare

***** Location: Ireland, Great Britain, Commonwealth
***** Season: Early spring (Northern Hemisphere),
........end of hot dry season (Kenya)
***** Category: Observance


*****************************
Explanation

Mothering Sunday
is an ancient church festival which, in some countries and in modern times, has become mixed up with the secular celebration of Mothers' Day. It is also in this modern day and age, that many women are not mothers, and that we have become more aware of the suffering of those who have wished to be mothers but could not, those who have lost their children and those who have lost their mothers, as well as those who cannot be with their mothers for one reason or another.

The church is therefore seeking its way back to the roots of the festival, the celebration of the mother church, bringing the opportunity to meet one's extended family on a day of pilgrimage and celebration.

The fourth Sunday in Lent is Laetare, also called Refreshment Sunday, the day when the Lenten fast is relaxed. For those in the Roman Catholic, Anglican or Lutheran traditions, the priests (including the Pope -- see the photos below) wear rose pink vestments, for one of only two occasions in the year (the other being Gaudete, the third Sunday of Advent).

Isabelle Prondzynski

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Origins of Mothering Sunday

In this commercial age, it is easy to think that Mothers' Day is yet another excuse for the greetings card industry to extract our money.

However, unlike the festival on the second Sunday in May, created in America in 1914, our Mothers' Day or Mothering Sunday has been celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent since the early church. Centuries ago it was considered important for people to return to their home or 'mother' church once a year, which inevitably became an occasion for family reunions. It was this that led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants or apprentices away from home, being given the day off to visit and take gifts to their mothers.

Mothering Sunday was also known as Refreshment Sunday, because the fasting rules for Lent were relaxed on tha day. A food item especially associated with the day is simnel cake: a rich fruit cake with almond paste on top and in the middle. For strict adherers to the Lenten fast, the cake had to keep until Easter Day, which is when it is now more commonly found on our tea tables.
http://parish.ashtead.org/east04/mother.htm

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


http://static.flickr.com/4/7596738_cd1c0bb37d.jpg?v=0

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From a Mothering Sunday sermon

I managed to discover that in days gone by it was considered important for people to return to their home or "mother" church once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their "mother" church, or the main church or Cathedral of the area. Inevitably the return to the "mother" church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away returned home. (It was quite common in those days for children to leave home for work once they were ten years old.)

And most historians think that it was the return to the "Mother" church which led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants, or as apprentices, being given the day off to visit their mother and family.
As they walked along the country lanes, children would pick wild flowers or violets to take to church or give to their mother as a small gift.
http://www.ascensionbalhamhill.org.uk/Resources/MotheringSunday.htm

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


http://www.themildredmittensmanufactory.co.uk/img176060.jpg

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A Foodie Festival

Mothering Sunday was also known as Refreshment Sunday because the fasting rules for Lent were relaxed that day.

Originally both Old and New Testament lessons on mid-lent Sunday made a point of food.

The Gospel reading from the New Testament told the story of how Jesus fed five thousand people with only five small barley loaves and two small fish.

Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. (John 6:10-12)

Simnel Cake
The food item specially associated with Mothering Sunday is the Simnel Cake.

A Simnel cake is a fruit cake with two layers of almond paste, one on top and one in the middle.

The cake is made with 11 balls of marzipan icing on top representing the 11 disciples. (Judas is not included.) Traditionally, sugar violets would also be added.

Why Simnel?
The name Simnel probably comes from the Latin word "simila" which means a fine wheat flour usually used for baking a cake.

There's a legend that a man called Simon and his wife Nell argued over whether the cake for Mothering Sunday should be baked or boiled. In the end they did both, so the cake was named after both of them: SIM-NELL.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/features/mday/mday2.shtml

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

More background, and a delicious Simnel cake recipe :

http://www.chippingnorton.net/Features/simnel%20cake.htm


http://www.chippingnorton.net/images/Simnel_Cake_2.jpg

http://www.chippingnorton.net/images/simnel.jpg
http://www.chippingnorton.net/images/simnel1.jpg


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Pope in Rose

AP - Sun Mar 26, 2006, 7:36 AM ET
Pope Benedict XVI waves to faithful prior to celebrating Mass during his visit to God Our Merciful Father Church on the outskirts of Rome, Sunday, March 26, 2006. The pontiff took inspiration from his predecessor Sunday, reading what he said was a message of love and hope that the late Pope John Paul II had intended to read the day after he died.
http://www.splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/archives/006622.php

More photos of the Pope :


(AP Photo/Plinio Lepri)
http://michaeldubruiel.blogspot.com/2006/03/pope-in-pink-rose-laetare-sunday.html

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In some places, this Sunday is the only time during Lent in which Christian marriage may be solemnized. And let's not forget the rose vestments. Rose colored vestments apparently have two different explanations. The first is the that the color of rose comes from the floral gifts given to mothers on account of sons being able to see the mothers once again upon reunification with their families. The other more likely origin comes from the tradition of the Golden Rose.
On this fourth Sunday of Lent, the Pope would bless the "Golden Rose" to be sent to Catholic kings and queens. This Sunday became known as "Dominca de Rosa," and eventually rose colored vestments were introduced to complement the theme.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1603625/posts


*****************************
Worldwide use

Germany
In Germany, Laetare is the Sunday when the Lenten fast is relaxed and the priests wear rose coloured vestments -- but there is no link with a celebration of motherhood :

Freudensonntag Laetare

Mitten in der Passionszeit, besser: in der „Fastenzeit", gibt es paradoxerweise ein Fest der Freude: Dieser vierte Sonntag nach Aschermittwoch (in diesem Jahr am 25. März) heißt lateinisch „Laetare", nach dem Anfangswort des liturgischen Gesangs „Freuet euch mit Jerusalem" aus dem biblischen Buch Jesaja.
Freude mitten in der Fastenzeit?
Das erklärt sich so: Traditionell ist die Fastenzeit von Zurückgezogenheit und Buße geprägt. Der Sonntag Laetare ermuntert die Christen dazu, sich auf den Palmsonntag zu freuen, der den Einzug Jesu in die Heilige Stadt zum Thema hat. Wenn sich an Laetare auch die Leidensgeschichte Jesu ankündigt, ist doch die Freude über die bevorstehende Erlösung der Menschen groß. Katholische und evangelische Geistliche dürfen im Gottesdienst eine ungewöhnliche Gewandfarbe tragen: Rosa. Während in der Passionszeit insgesamt die Farbe Violett vorgeschrieben ist, also die Farbe der Buße und Besinnung, symbolisiert das Rosa eine Erleichterung der Bußpraxis.
http://www.chrismon.de/cservice/clex_f-j.html

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Ireland
Mothering Sunday in Ireland is particularly associated with daffodils, which may be distributed to the women in the congregation during or after the Church Service. Mothering Sunday coincides with the day when the secular Mothers' Day is celebrated.

Kenya
In Kenya too, Mothering Sunday and Mothers' Day coincides, without, however, being a major festival or a commercial occasion beyond the major cities.

Isabelle Prondzynski.



*****************************
Things found on the way


Half way through Lent (on Laetare Sunday), La Louvière in Belgium wakes up with the sound of the drum roll and the Gilles' clogs clanking. Coming from a 150 year old tradition, the Carnival of Laetare takes place in the "Cité des Loups" (Wolves city, nickname of La Louvière) and brings along three days of intense entertainment around a warm and friendly folklore.

Lots of pictures, with carnival music :
http://www.laetare.be/index_uk.htm

*****************************
HAIKU


staying at home
but with thoughts in the church --
mothering sunday

Isabelle Prondzynski

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

roses in her name
to climb out of our reach
Mothering Sunday


http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/record.asp?id=10506

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Laetare Sunday!
Champagne on the table,
The Anglican Way.

Bill Snyder
http://rathernot.classicalanglican.net/index.php?p=20


almost mother's day
my best daffodils bent low
in the constant rain


Paul Conneally
Loughborough UK

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Laetare Sunday . . .
waking to the sound
of lawn mowers


Elaine Andre
March 2013

*****************************
Related words

***** Mother's Day

Good page, with a link to Mothers' Days around the world :
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/easter/mothers.htm


***** Lent


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

. Christian Celebrations in Japanese Kigo   



[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO  TOP . ]

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

3/05/2005

Cemetery Sunday

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO  TOP . ]
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

Cemetery Sunday

***** Location: Ireland (Roman Catholic parishes)
***** Season: Summer
***** Category: Observance


*****************************
Explanation

Cemetery Sunday in Ireland is a Roman Catholic tradition, observed in summer. The whole parish gets together to celebrate an outdoor Mass in the parish cemetery, with the many visitors who come especially for the day. A tent may be erected for the priest, the servers and the altar, also perhaps a music group -- everyone else brings umbrellas and prays for the rain to keep off.

Every parish celebrates Cemetery Sunday at its own convenience, only making sure that the date does not clash with those of neighbouring parishes. This enables families to attend several Cemetery Sundays, if they have graves to visit in several parishes.

Families take great care, for weeks ahead of their Cemetery Sunday, to tidy up the graves, polish the gravestones, plant new flowers and bring extra vases for the day itself. The cemeteries are beautiful to look at by the time the big day arrives. Everyone turns up for the occasion -- even those who rarely darken the doors of a church. After the Mass, they stay and chat among the flowers and tombs, visit the graves of those who died during the past year, and admire the flowers -- until the heavens open and an almighty shower sends everyone running to their cars!


Taughmon parish

Text and photo © Isabelle Prondzynski

In certain parts of Ireland this ritual is called
'Graveyard Mass'.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

Much work goes into cutting the grass and preparing the graveyard for the big day :


http://www.lmi.utvinternet.com/gcutters.jpg

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Announcement from the parish of Kells, Co. Meath :

Cemetery Sunday 2006
Sunday August 20 2006

Girley Cemetery 6pm, St. John's 6.30 and St. Colmcille's 7pm.

The Parish Community welcomes to the Parish all those who will visit for Cemetery Devotions and join with us in remembering and celebrating the memory of our dear departed.

Kells, Co. Meath

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And here is a beautiful web site from Lavey Parish, Co. Derry, with photos from several years :
http://www.lmi.utvinternet.com/cs1999.htm


http://www.lmi.utvinternet.com/images/cs304.jpg


*****************************
Worldwide use

North America too knows Cemetery Sundays (also called “cemetery strolls”). These are Sundays when the population is invited to visit the local cemetery and enjoy guided tours, particularly visiting the graves of any famous people buried there.

Thus in Huntsville, Alabama :

The Huntsville Pilgrimage Association sponsors an annual stroll through Maple Hill Cemetery. This event has become a wonderful community activity that helps the citizens of Huntsville learn more about the people who lived in Huntsville in the early days and gave it some of its rich heritage. Donations made during the stroll go to preserve the cemetery, one of the most beautiful and elegant cemeteries in the nation.


http://z.about.com/d/huntsville/1/0/V/p/cemetery101.jpg

Barbara Lauster, director of the Weeden House Museum, portrays the niece of Gov. David P. Lewis (1820-1884). Lewis was a lawyer and the 23rd Governor of Alabama.

http://huntsville.about.com/library/weekly/aa050801a.htm

*****************************
Things found on the way


Annual Open Air Service in Clonmacnoise

For the Anglican Church of Ireland, the Annual Open Air Service in the historical site of Clonmacnoise (normally on the last Sunday in July) represents a similar occasion of worship among tombstones :

It says something about the place which religion still holds in the Ireland of the Celtic Tiger that many of the country’s most iconic sites, preserved seemingly for ever on postcards with clear blue skies, are religious places – Skellig Micheal, Glendalough, the Rock of Cashel and, of course, Clonmacnoise. These are evocative places, introducing visitors to an important aspect of our past and reminding natives of the astonishingly rich culture which the life of the church encouraged in Ireland. The very survival of such places, given the periodic disorder to which Ireland was subject and the absence, until modern times, of any significant cultural apparatus to care for national monuments, is remarkable. But their continued existence is not simply a tangible link with the early church in Ireland but is a constant reminder that the church of today does not exist in a vacuum but is part of an on-going historical process which has shaped and continues to shape what we are.

A reminder of that continuity of religious experience and expression is the use by the Church of Ireland of Templeconnor Church at Clonmacnoise. Each Sunday evening during the summer months there is a celebration of the Eucharist in this historic place and each year there is an open air service in the grounds of the monastery. This year the Open Air Service will be held tomorrow (23 July 2006) at 4 pm. The service will be led by the Rector of Athlone, the Revd Graham Doyle, and the preacher will be the Rt Revd Stuart Burns, Abbott of the Anglican Benedictine Priory of Burford in Oxfordshire. The music will be provided by the Trim and Kildare Cathedral Choirs under the direction of Derek Verso.

Clonmacnoise, following the Reformation, became the responsibility of the established church and the Church of Ireland continued to be responsible for the site until 1882 when, after disestablishment, the monastic ruins were vested in the Commissioners of Public Works to be preserved as a national monument. However, the Church of Ireland retained Templeconnor church for use as a place of worship.
http://www.ireland.anglican.org/pressreleases/index.php?p=688


http://www.fond-ecran-image.com/photo-irlande/photo-clonmacnoise/04.jpg

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Annual Pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick

Croagh Patrick (Cruach Phádraig in Irish), known locally as the Reek, is a 2,510 ft mountain is 5 miles from Westport, County Mayo in the west of Ireland. In the Annals of Ulster entry for the year 1113, the mountain is named Cruachán Aigle, 'Eagle Mountain' (Latin : aquila).

The mountain forms the south part of a U-shaped valley created by a glacier flowing into Clew Bay in the last Ice Age. Coagh Patrick is part of a longer east-west ridge; to the west is the mountain Ben Goram. Croagh Patrick has been site of pilgrimage, especially at the summer solstice, since before the arrival of Celtic Christianity in the first century; possibly since before the arrival of the Celts.

At present it is named for Saint Patrick, who reputedly fasted on the summit of Croagh Patrick for forty days in the fifth century and built a church there. It is said that at the end of Saint Patrick's 40-day fast, he threw a bell down the side of the mountain, banishing all the snakes and serpents of Ireland. (This is untrue; snakes are not native to Ireland.)

In modern times, a small chapel was built on the summit, and dedicated on the July 20, 1905. On July 31, 2005, during the annual pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick, or 'Reek Sunday' as it is known locally, a plaque commemorating the centenary of the building and dedication of the chapel was unveiled by Most Rev. Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam.

On "Reek Sunday", the last Sunday in July every year, over 25,000 pilgrims climb the mountain, many of whom climb barefoot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croagh_Patrick

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Pilgrim Ireland Project

Pilgrimages bring together the greatest gatherings of human beings on the planet and are common to all great religious and spiriitual traditions.

Here in Ireland people have kept faith with their own local pilgrim places despite the distractions and pressures of an ever changing world . In a climate of declining practice of organised and institutional religion, pilgrimage seems to offer a gentle invitation which meets us where we are at in our own daily lives.

The Pilgrim Ireland Project


*****************************
HAIKU


Cemetery Sunday --
families reunite
around their graves

family grave --
since this Sunday last year
Dad has joined Mum

Isabelle Prondzynski

Photo from Lavey Parish

http://www.lmi.utvinternet.com/images/cs104.jpg

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

the old dog
leads the way…
visiting graves

from the grave
and from the flowerpot…
skylarks!


Kobayashi Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


the groom’s family poses
at the bride’s
family plot

dagosan [Aug. 26, 2004]

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/ethicalesq/2004/08/26/cemetery-stroll/

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


TANKA

fifty years later
still the same
poison ivy vine
on the faucet
near my brother's grave

susan delphine delaney

*****************************
Related words

***** All Souls' Day

***** Grave (haka) Japan, worldwide

***** Grave marker (sotoba) Japan
cemetary


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::