No bull

A big day out in Ballyvourney taking a group of American students from Kutztown University, Pennsylvania, around the holy wells.  This is the third year I've done this and it's always good to meet up with their professor who is a major Irish enthusiast especially when it comes to holy wells and saints. He's a specialist in early Irish Christianity. They're here for a month and have already been to Belfast, Dublin and are now in Cork, going on to Galway and the Aran Islands before flying home. 

With me in charge of the day things of course got a bit more adventurous than planned. En route I thought it wise to take a quick recce at access for St Abban's Well which involves a sometimes lively crossing of a ford. Due to the hot weather the ford was passable but a rather alarming notice was attached to the gate: BEWARE OF THE BULL, DO NOT ENTER. Of course I entered and peered around and could see no bull but we needed to cross two large fields and there was nowhere to hide so I needed to ponder on this. Consulting my GPS there did look like another possible route so I decided to see how things went.

The journey to St Gobnait's Well was very enjoyable - we did the long pilgrimage route and they were interested and respectful. A large lunch and we were ready for St Abban and the alternative route. We landed up in a farmyard and met Dennis and his dog who were both delightful and Dennis sent us off across his fields - no bull. The briars and nettles were ferocious and there were fallen trees and electric fences  and a lot of midges but we all made it intact. Here we are at St Abban's shrine. There will be stories to tell and I have now been made an Honorary Professor of Kutztown University!  

Talking of saints, here's an extraordinary and beautifully shot film The Unknown Saint we watched the other night. Slow, thoughtful, beautiful with some sly humour. And it features a gorgeous shrine and rag tree, what's not to like! Set in Morocco.