Sunday, October 4, 2020

#4 Ballingeary, county Cork Church


 

Ballingeary, County Cork Church

          While at Gougane Barra in Ballingeary, County Cork, we had lunch at the hotel. The hotel restaurant was quaint and the food amazingly good. The lake behind the hotel was lovely. Since it was cold and sunny we decided to go for a walk. We came across a small stone church on the side of the lake that held maybe thirty people. Its history dates back to 623AD!

          This is where we came up with the idea of the church on the Lyonsmaine estate in our book and its role in the mystery.



          As we traveled around Ireland we found churches dotted throughout the countryside that has the most amazing histories.  In the Republic of Ireland, we found numerous abandoned stone churches.  Many of these small churches held, at the most, twenty or thirty worshippers. Though abandoned, many still had intact stained glass windows.

In the Republic of Ireland (south) we were surprised to find so many empty or abandoned Anglican churches on the outskirts of towns. Yet the Catholic Churches were old, and huge with incredible histories. Even the small towns, hamlets, had good size Catholic churches.

          When we traveled to Northern Ireland, the Anglican Churches were everywhere, while the Catholic churches were small, some abandoned.

          It is amazing how the various places we visited spark our imagination.

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