Ballintubber Abbey

There is one thing that Ireland is know for that sets it apart from England, Scotland, and Wales in my mind. It is the faithfulness of the people of the Roman Catholic faith. They went through a lot, especially in the last couple of hundred years, to maintain their faith, their traditions, and, indeed, their way of life. If you visit Ireland now, you will find that many young people do not attend church, and this is not just those of the Catholic faith, but of the other churches in Ireland. The younger generation have demanded that Ireland be brought into the twenty-first century, even if it is kicking and screaming. This includes bringing peace to the island, especially in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland has many more people of Protestant faiths, but, to me it seems that they don’t have the same number of ancient or medieval ruins as reminders of how ancient the land is and the people who were first there. That being said, the Republic is home to a great number of abbeys that are no longer used and haven’t been for hundreds of years. However, there are some that have been renovated to use as tourist destinations and some for use by the surrounding neighbourhood. Ballintubber Abbey is one of the abbeys that combine the two purposes.

Ballintubber Abbey has been there in one form or another since 1216. Prior to that, there was a tradition that St Patrick baptised people in the small river at the back of where the Abbey now stands. There is also a trail leading from there to the top of Croagh Patrick where St Patrick is reputed to have fasted for forty days in the mid 400s AD. This mountain is the third tallest mountain in County Mayo. The trail was used in the past for a pilgrimage to the top of the mountain when pilgrimages to Jerusalem were discontinue when the Saracens recaptured the Holy Land. Eventually, even these pilgrimages petered out.

The Abbey is surrounded by a magnificent cemetery. There are very old headstones as well as modern ones. The Abbey also has a Way of the Cross which faithful Catholics follow, especially in time for Easter. There is a Rosary Way, an underground crib, and a small museum. I did not get a chance to visit the museum as our schedule had to be kept.

The Abbey was severely damaged during the Cromwellian years, but the people still continued to meet on the grounds throughout the years. Just prior to 1966, a new roof was put on the roofless building in time for the 750^th anniversary. Recently, there have been renovations on the building and its interior in time for the 800^th anniversary which was or is being held this year (2016).

This building costs a lot of money to restore and maintain. In order to raise funds, the Abbey is open to tourists who are given a tour of the cemetery, along with the Way of the Cross and the Rosary Way, and inside the building itself. Pilgrimages are held at six times a year, Easter, and then once in May, June, July, August, and December. These pilgrimages are the same as is described above. Ballintubber Abbey is a popular choice of location for weddings of both local people and celebrities. Once celebrity wedding in 2001 was for Irish actor Pierce Brosnan and his wife, American journalist Keely Shay Smith. For those of you who don’t know who Pierce Brosnan is, he had the title role of Remington Steele in the American TV series of the same name, and he also played James Bond in a number of James Bond movies.

I enjoyed visiting Ballintubber Abbey as I do have an interest in history and in religious history. I would like to go back to study the Abbey and the surrounding area more and to collect the stories that abound about St Patrick. 

Winters of 1817 and 2014

I originally wrote this in February 2014.

The winter of 2014 was a colder winter in Petawawa than it had been for the previous couple of years.  Yes, in previous winters, there were a few days of minus 30 degree or lower temperatures in January.  In 2014, the colder temperatures started in December over the Christmas holidays.  My husband and I were in the Niagara Region for the holidays and came home to find that the battery in the vehicle left behind was frozen solid.

This year was our first winter in Gander. I had been told to expect warmer winter temperatures than Petawawa, but the winter was longer, there was much more snow, and the summer shorter and cooler than what I had experienced in the upper Ottawa Valley.

2014’s cold weather has made me think about how my ancestors may have coped with similar weather. 

My fourth-great-grandfather, Edward Farrell, arrived in Canada and received his land assignment in August of 1817.  He had to build a cabin before winter.  He was fortunate that he had two sons with him as well as his wife.  They also had to be sure of their fuel supply.  Edward had been in the British Army for at least the previous 10 years and spent time on mainland Europe involved with the Napoleonic wars.  I haven’t looked for his military records yet or the regiment’s records, but I am relatively sure that he would have been involved with scrounging for necessities.

Another fourth-great-grandfather, Joseph Armstrong, had a different situation in 1817.  Joseph was a farmer in Cumberland, England, and had been on the same land for over twenty years and all of his children had been born there.  The Napoleonic Wars were over and the British economy had taken a down turn.  Farmers could not sell their crops and, therefore, some of them could not meet their financial obligations.  Joseph was one of them.  He did not lose his farm until 1819, but things would have been tight except for any help the older children could give.

I think of Edward and his family in a cabin that they built themselves, which may have had a lot of drafts and not enough fuel.  I also think of Joseph and his wife, Mary, and the children not old enough to be on their own, facing the cold winters of the Borderlands, with not enough money to be certain of keeping their relatively comfortable home.  Edward’s situation did nothing but improve, while Joseph’s degraded to loss of his farm.  My ancestors did survive the cold winters.  So can I.