We spent the morning in a singing workshop with an expert in traditional Celtic music. She lives at the monastery (in fact, she's the only woman who has ever been allowed to live there), and I was worried that this would mean she'd be very Christian, but she wasn't. She was spiritual in a way that encompassed a variety of religions and philosophies, which was fantastic, and she taught us all about Irish history and musical traditions. I've always loved Celtic music, and hearing her sing just made me love it even more. She taught us several songs, explained their origins and significance, and- my favorite part- sang us an ancient, pre-Christian lamentation, one of the earliest forms of music, which was incredible.
What I hadn't realized was that the revival of Celtic music and folk song traditions is relatively recent. Irish culture was suppressed by the British during the days of the empire, and even afterward, well into the 20th century, the Irish considered their traditional culture to be unsophisticated and better left behind. Fortunately, this is no longer true. The Irish language is a mandatory part of the school curriculum, and we were told that there are now huge numbers of people who are interested in learning Celtic folk songs, and maintaining the Irish musical tradition.
After the workshop we were taken to visit the monastery's small icon temple, which was pretty cool, and then we were invited to attend a church service and hear the monks sing. They were quite good. I wondered if this was only a select few of the monks, or if the monastery's admissions process included a vocal audition.
We performed after the monks, though I'm not sure we sounded quite as good. The audience didn't seem to mind, though, and it was fun.
We then left the monastery and headed toward Dublin. On the way we passed through the little town of Moneygall, which has the high honor of being the home of some of the ancestors of Barack Obama. The town is very proud of this.
The Obama ancestral home.
The Obama Cafe.
And, most notably, the Barack Obama Plaza! Which isn't much more than a fancy rest stop, but the sentiment is there.
Inside the plaza, in addition to the fast food, is a little exhibit about Obama's Irish heritage, and about Irish immigrants abroad in general. It's quite nice.
Barack "O'Bama".
Then we continued on to Dublin. Here is some more awesome scenery and cows. There has been a lot of both.
It took us about two hours to reach Dublin, and we didn't get to see much of it before getting to our hotel. But here are some pictures anyway.
More pictures of Dublin tomorrow!
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