St. Kevin's healing presence permeates secluded Irish valley

A monastic community's stone ruins hint at a time of spiritual peace

St. Kevin – June 3

- WCR photo by Ted Fitzgerald St. Kevin Church's impressive round tower, a mainstay of early Irish monastic communities, is a much-photographed feature of Glendalough.

By TED FITZGERALD
Special to the WCR
Glendalough, Ireland

Ireland's sequestered Vale of Glendalough is one of the wonders of the country, sheltered by wooded slopes and containing the ruins of a once-great monastic city and the spirits of generations of Celtic saints.

It's difficult to describe the site in anything but superlatives. This Valley of the Two Lakes, pride of the Wicklow Mountains, has attracted holy men and pilgrims for 1,500 years to pray, meditate, write and revel in the natural beauty of the place.

Ancient stones

Visitors can't help but be moved by the ancient stones of the Seven Churches of Glendalough and the story of Kevin, a popular namesake of Christian boys for centuries.

Kevin was born in 498 into a noble Leinster family and received an education by monks, notably Cornish St. Petroc and was then ordained. He became noted for his piety and his disdain for material wealth.

Soon after becoming a priest and desiring to live his life as a hermit, Kevin sought out a secluded place in the Valley of Glendalough. He tended cattle, grew crops and developed a rapport with the abundant lakeside wildlife.

But word of the holy man's presence soon attracted dozens, then hundreds of followers and a monastic community began to develop. Over the years a great variety of legends evolved around the saint, particularly in the areas of healing people and relating to the animals in his life.

Two almost inaccessible sites on the mountainside above the Upper Lake are believed to have been associated with Kevin when he first came to the place seeking a reclusive life.

Down the valley, most of the remains of the monastic complex that flourished for centuries are to be found at the east end of the Lower Lake.

Scattered ruins

With only stone ruins scattered among native trees and shrubs, it's difficult now to visualize the large community with its hundreds of humble living quarters for clergy and lay people sharing space with workshops, libraries and farm buildings.

Few sites in the monastic city can be directly associated with the place's founder, many being built after Kevin's passing in 618. One of the more prominent and best-preserved structures and one obviously much-visited is known as St. Kevin's Church.

Experts suspect that the much-modified building may have been constructed after the saint's death and was in fact a kitchen with a chimney suggestive of a bell tower.

The cathedral, a large contemporary Irish church, although said to have been frequented by Kevin, may also date from the ninth century.

Naturally, the impressive round tower, a mainstay of early Irish monastic communities, is another much-photographed feature of Glendalough. It served as a bell tower and symbolic heaven-pointing spire as well as providing a refuge for the monks during the many Viking attacks on the site.

On and off popularity

High point of Glendalough as a centre of Christian learning and erudition came just before 1214 when it was made a part of the nearby Diocese of Dublin, which soon became the focal point of religious activity in this part of Ireland. After destruction in 1398 by the English, Glendalough lay abandoned, but over the years became the objective of large pilgrimages until these were suppressed by the Church in 1862 because of undue rowdiness.

More recently of course, the Vale of the Lakes has become one of the country's most visited pilgrimage sites and focus of many religious activities and celebrations.

For the visitor or pilgrim wandering among the ruins it's not possible to avoid the powerful aura of timelessness and sanctity that pervades this fascinating place of past religious activity.

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