SUNDAY, SEPT. 16
The computer wouldn’t turn on. I called a computer repair store in Skibbereen and we drove to a small shop, stuffed with old, dusty and overhauled computers. The two men who worked there gave us a long lecture about the many reasons why one shouldn’t own an Apple computer. (Not really why we were there.) I was focused on the water that dripped out of my computer when one of the men took the metal back off. Things weren’t looking good on the computer front.
ST. PATRICK’S CATHOLIC CHURCH
The sound of church bells and our curiosity drew us down the street to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, an imposing, grey stone Catholic church.
We followed people inside and sat on a pew near the back. Two elderly men sat on either side of us, and three families in front, one with a small child. I was surprised how full the church was. Most locals farm or fish for a living and their dress is plain, though some men wore ties with wool jackets. Most women dressed simply in pants. Everyone’s shoes were remarkably reasonable, often well worn. The older men gave us distrustful, sideways glances, letting us know they knew we were “blowins.”
The sermon addressed issues of faith both as hereditary and personal. The hereditary portion peeked my interest, especially having recently seen the famine exhibition and aquired a cursory understanding of the hardships endured by the Irish. The priest offered that the simple act of showing up at church proved a sort of solidarity and defiance that links generations to the past and their ancestors’ stony survivability.. The English tried every horrible way to convert the Irish to Protestantism. Catholics who defied were tortured, starved, sometimes killed.
On a walk with S, she explained an economic pressure put on Catholics by the English in an attempt to force conversion. Catholics weren’t allowed to pass land holdings to one child. If parents had five children, the land was divided by five. Land holdings thus became tiny and worthless, and growing families were unable to feed themselves, forcing some Catholics to convert to Protestantism in order to survive.
After all these years of fighting between the Catholics and Protestants, Irish unification seems inevitable. Forty percent of the population of Northern Ireland are Protestant, and 40% are Catholic. It’s anticipated, with some certainty, that the number of Catholics will soon exceed Protestants in Northern Ireland. When a referendum is called, and they are called frequently, the vote will likely swing to unification, and Protestants could become a political minority in the Irish Republic.
Before I leave the subject of the Catholic Church, I want to mention that both Chloe and I were thinking the same thoughts during the service…about sexual abuses of children and women perpetrated by priest. This shadow cast over the Catholic Church is ever present and undeniable.
We left during communion.
A few doors past the computer repair shop, we stopped at a small coffeeshop for breakfast.
A FESTIVAL & WAVES
It was the last day of Skibereen’s annual food festival, A Taste of West Cork Food Festival. We wandered over to see what was happening, and found a bustling, people-packed street and stands with every kind of fresh food imaginable. It was the weekend market on steroids. A stage had been erected and a band of players dressed in traditional attire performed from metal foldout chairs. We were sorry we had just had breakfast. The prepared food looked and smelled amazing.
We rushed home to get Saffi, and off we went for our long daily walk, which started on the cliff overlooking Warren Strand. We crossed the hill and proceeded to walk from beach to beach under a bright sun. Waves crashed beside us, capped white from the storm the night before. Saffi had a great time…so many beaches, so many rocks to chase, drop and forget.
Exhausted when we got home, I lay back on the couch in the conservatory and watched the colors and light shift on the hill across the street.
