75 / Cosán na Naomh
Two weekends ago I walked four miles of the Cosán na Naomh. This is an ancient pilgrim path from
Ventry strand to the foot of Mount Brandon. The weather was fine and dry but the ground was wet and
often muddy underfoot from earlier rain. I was as pleased with myself as if I’d walked the full
eleven miles from the shore to the foot of the sacred mountain.
The little band of pilgrims with whom we’d set out was
nowhere in sight by the time I was ready to call a halt. No problem. I had walked the full
length three years previously and climbed past the fourteen stations of the cross to reach
the summit, the second highest in Ireland. A bit beyond my capability at
present. However, by next year,
maybe by early summer, I hope to be able to walk some of the Camino de Santiago
on the way to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. Physical fitness and
available funds permitting.
The Camino has multiple starting points across Europe,
including this one in Ventry in Kerry on the Dingle peninsula. For hundreds of years pilgrims would
arrive by boat to begin their penitential walk. We had set off after a blessing in Irish from a local
priest. Accompanying the walkers
was a knowledgeable local historian.
No doubt she would have told them about Gallarus Oratory among the
several historical sites to be admired en
route.
Gallarus Oratory is a remarkable structure in the shape of
an upturned boar. The sandstone
blocks from which it is built have each been so cunningly cut and positioned in
a corbel pattern that wet weather does not penetrate despite the lack of mortar. The oratory would have provided a
welcome shelter for pilgrims from early Christian times onwards,
Three years ago, before dawn, I joined a silent group of
worshippers standing in front of Gallarus Oratory for a mass. Candles in glass jars were distributed
and these were the sole source of light in the dark before sunrise. Mine was soon extinguished along with
most of the others by the chill breeze that gusted round the oratory
walls. The mass continued in Irish
while the sun appeared from behind the hills and climbed steadily into the
cloudy sky. The whole experience
was magical in a theatrical sense and emotionally moving. With daylight with ever greater clarity
it became possible to distinguish faces as well as features of the landscape
around us.
It was a powerfully spiritual experience.
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| © Máille Brady Bates: Snow on Mt Brandon |
