Balally bound

The second phase of this wonder-filled journey began with a day and night in transit. Three air legs, from Salt Lake City to Seattle, to Reykjavik and finally Dublin. The parish of Balally, our destination, is situated on the southern side of Ireland’s famous city. To get there we flew high across the Rocky Mountains and vast frozen prairies of Canada, the white windswept snowfields of Greenland, and brooding Arctic Ocean. Iceland is 66 degrees north of the Equator, and Reykjavik airstrip, which is all we got to see of this volcanic wilderness, looked pretty bleak and cold.

Sarah has been invited to meet with members of the Church of the Ascension in Balally, and to lead some Holy Week reflection.

Brendan, the parish assistant, met us at the airport and drove us to the Presbytery where we were greeted by Fr Jim, the parish priest. Geraldine served delicious home-cooked soup and sandwiches, and conversation and laughter flowed. We felt immediately at home in this place of warm hospitality. 

After lunch, Fr Jim took Sarah for a tour of the parish centre while Brendan and Neil enthused about Irish music - U2, Clannad, Mary Black, Luka Bloom and, how could I forget, Van Morrison??!!

Later we were welcomed by Sr Mary and Sr Katherine from the French Order of the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ), with whom we will stay whilst here in Ireland. Their house is next door to the church. And then, we had dinner in town with Fr Jim and Cinzia, one of the meditation leaders in the parish. On the way home we stopped to visit Fr Dermott, who earlier served here as parish priest and now supports the parish as chaplain and theologian.

We had a jet lag affected sleep (i.e., not much sleep at all) but nevertheless joined in with the pre-Easter service for the two local Catholic primary schools. Sarah was ‘on display’ as a remarkable curiosity - a woman priest!! It was a lovely service which included two short periods of meditation. The children were very settled and engaged, and Neil got gig with the musos, singing and playing guitar and shaker. 

We were given a leave pass on the afternoon and caught the light rail into the city centre.

We found Oliver St John Gogarty’s pub in Temple Bar and decided to stop in for lunch and a wee ale - the music was playing and the craic was good.

In the evening, we were invited to join with a group of Fr Jim’s friends drawn from different parishes he’s worked in. They’re called the Mad Hatters and they gather for dinner whenever one of them has a birthday. It was loads of fun, rich in laughter and shared stories.

So, what a delightful start to our time in the Emerald Isle. And, surprisingly, it’s only rained four times! Ahead today we have the very special prospect of meeting up with Sarah Legrand from the London wing of the Benedictus Zoom community! Sarah has flown in from London to visit Dublin and meet up with us. How good is that?!