Take Me Back To Glendalough -

As much as I loved the boisterous bustle of city streets with pubs and shops, bright colors and cacophony of sounds -

I love places to wander in the quiet even more.

Ancient spaces.

Places where average people lived and loved and worked and played to make the best life they could for themselves and those around them - a simple life.

Which is what Saint Kevin likely was searching for when he up and moved to live a single solitary life, only to be followed by his followers.  Poor guy.  LOL!  He couldn't get a break!

The gateway.  6th century.

I would have captured more - but there is a dumpster off to the right hand side and I cropped it out. LOL.

The very picturesque Gateway has the distinction of being Ireland's only surviving example of a medieval gateway to an early monastic city.  

This structure was originally two-storied with two fine granite arches.

Moss on the stone wall.

The way things worked - this was the last stop for tours with group 1, and after dropping group 1 back at Dublin airport the next morning, and picking up group 2 - we came right back so I got to continue my wanderings on two consecutive days.

The first day?  Misty and a bit rainy.  It added a whole ethereal feel to this ancient space.

I took photos of everything - thinking I'd decipher them later.

Towers, churches, old graveyards - call me a happy girl!

Round towers like this one were built over a thousand years ago so historians are not entirely in agreement as to what their purpose was.

The Irish for round tower is ‘cloigteach’ which roughly translates to ‘bell tower’ so it is likely that the tower held bells and would have been used to summon the locals to mass or alert them to danger.

It is also thought that the tower was used as a safe space to hide during Viking raids as the door into the tower is located about 3.5m above the ground. It is also likely that the tower was used as a beacon for pilgrims.

See the foggy mist? Perfection!

St. Kevin's Church

St Kevin's Church from the front.

And from another angle -

But my favorite photo of the church is at the top of this post - with the flowers in the foreground.

I can't stop taking photos of old Celtic crosses -

Like this one with the misty mountains in the background.

And old fallen headstones propped up against a wall.

And two more side by side.

Some you have to duck through to get to where you are going.

I think this is the backside of the cathedral -

From another angle.

Inside - wow.

The cathedral at Glendalough was dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul and was built in different periods between the 10th and the 13th century, but it ceased to be a cathedral in 1214. It's the largest building of the site.

Stone archway.

I wonder what this place was like in its day?

Cath4edral in the background.

More quiet walking -

Wondering about these people.

There are "newer" stones too.

This one touched my heart.

My daughter is also buried between her great grandparents. I feel this to my soul.

Just beautiful - lichen and all.

Beautiful. Just lovely.

The stones all seem to be facing the mountain -

More ruins in the trees beyond.

Lovely wanderings this day!

And a bonus - a fawn in the creek as I crossed a footbridge.

Hello sweet one!

And back through the gateway we came.

Poor Saint Kevin - just wanted to live in the wilderness as a hermit and all of this followed him. He must have been some kind of guy!

And if you've made it this far - I applaud you.  The photos are many.  But as this blog is my scrapbook, my memoir, my life - the photos won't be lost on some remote cloud somewhere.

And would I go back? in a heartbeat.

Today - the August Quiltvillians will be arriving this afternoon so there are beds to be made and a porch to spruce up and here we go again.

I've been sewing in between laundry loads - all on secret stuff and I know YOU KNOW what that means.  Mystery season will soon be upon us and I want to be ready.

And I am so excited with how things are coming together! I hope that encourages you.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

I've seen this happen again and again throughout my life.

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The universe often knows better, and it's best not to fight it and just go with it!

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Be ready for some twists, turns, and surprises!

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Split nine patch Leader & Ender tutorial from the Free Patterns tab.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!