Showing posts with label St. Patrick's Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Patrick's Day. Show all posts

Thursday

Saint Patrick - The Church at Saul






A frequently asked question regarding St. Patrick is 

"Where in Northern Ireland will you find a church to commemorate St. Patrick?"

The answer is "lots of places"


 I want to take you to County Down where there is a small place called Saul and there you will find not one of the Cathedral's named after the Irish Patron Saint but a beautiful small church.



As you approach the church up the long narrow driveway






you will see the sign introducing you to St. Patrick's Memorial Church, which is open to the public daily and has a service each Sunday.







It tells us that St. Patrick built the first Christian church in Ireland on this same site in 432 AD







The church is small and beautifully made from light coloured stone.   
Simple & elegant with a very tall round tower.








The adjacent small graveyard is also well looked after and just a few steps away from the arched front doorway to the church.










Even the front of this church is simple and elegant with it's arched doorway and brickwork framing the door and then as you lift your eyes up there is a small stained glass window.








As you look to the front of the church after entering you will not be disappointed because the interior is also elegant and simple and this was a welcoming place to walk into and stand and gaze around, which we did for quite some time.



There are three sections at the front but also there is the wooden stand just off centre which






holds the book of Sunday Service readings and if you look closely you may be able to see that it was open at the readings for the Sunday after Trinity which would fall within the week from 25th September to 1st October.
We were there on 25th September (our oldest son's birthday - it was his choice of where we would visit that day)

The Psalm for the day was Psalm 78 and the reading listed was from Ezekiel 18.









The left section at the front comprised of a simple wooden pulpit.








The right section at the front was the area where the Bible would be read.










In the centre at the front was the altar table and another beautiful simple stained glass window.  This time arched and depicting St. Patrick.








Also in the church there is some information about the church.








Looking from the front back towards the entrance we saw the quaint compact organ for the weekly church services.


The stonework inside and outside made this little church just perfect.







As you can see from the side view of the outside the church is not very long and the windows are narrow yet with the sun shining in through these windows there was plenty of light inside.







It is on this side wall that we find the foundation stone of the new church built in 1933 on the old original site - a beautiful commemoration to St. Patrick.







Other Posts related to St. Patrick can be found on our






Tuesday

A Recipe for St. Patrick's Day - with FREE Printable



While I was writing a post a few years ago about Saint Patrick's Day my husband suggested I should have added my own


 St. Patrick's Day recipe.






Really he was just thinking of his favourite

 "wee green things" 

which is his name for the


 "Peppermint Squares"

I make for him.





I have to admit they are so yummy that they are quite addictive even for me and I am not usually keen on mint.  



So I decided to put the recipe here just in case anyone else likes "wee green things".


































This recipe originally came to me from Fred's Mum but the problem was my mum-in-law never measured things out accurately (you know a handful of this and a scoop of that) so I had to do that part of it myself and I think I got it perfected after a couple of years into our marriage.  (Even if it is a mixture between UK & US measurements.)



So I think it can have the 






I really should have made up a St. Patrick's Day name for them  -  maybe you can suggest one?





Don't forget to download your free printable for the recipe HERE  if you have not already subscribed to Sandra's Ark


If you have previously subscribed to Sandra's Ark then you will find the link for all my Resources in any of the emails you have received from me.


Or pin this for later:









St. Patrick's Day Parade in Northern Ireland - Xtra Special Day


Where is the most appropriate place to have a St. Patrick's Day Parade?

I bet your answer is Dublin because that's the capital city of Ireland.
Or perhaps you want to say New York because you have heard of the celebrations there.


I don't agree!!!!





Last year Fred & I went to the place which we believe is the most appropriate because it is the place St. Patrick is supposed to have landed nearby and also supposed to have been buried in.


The town of Downpatrick in County Down in Northern Ireland.






We had never been to any St. Patrick's Day Parade anywhere before so this was one of our Xtra Special Days


Having arrived there we got parked outside the town and followed the crowd of people until we got to a part of the town where others were already standing waiting.  We discovered this was the end of the parade route so decided to stay here also.

Soon along came the Street Performers to help to keep us entertained until the parade could make it's way through the town to our position.







Some of them threw sweets to the children

                              and one of them came right over to greet Fred.


Well because I already had the phone out to take pictures and we were getting a bit bored we resorted to one of the few selfies we have taken, some are mentioned previously in  Does My Nose Look Big in This?






Then along came the Parade.


No, correct that,  it was only the Pre-parade of Vintage Cars.





Not really a novelty around Northern Ireland as there are quite a few of these each year now.


Very shortly after that came the real thing.




The Parade



First of course we had St. Patrick and he was accompanied by two snakes.







Poor man had to walk the whole parade in his bare feet.





Then some Roman? soldiers.



Some other highlights of the parade were:



Colourful lady stilt walker.






Was this an Irish Wolfhound?






A Butterfly!


Never heard of a butterfly having anything to do with St. Patrick, but hey we like butterflies on this blog in fact  I Love Butterflies  and  I Was Going to Miss the Butterflies  and I have butterflies on mugs too 3 More Coffee Mugs  



then there was




A Pipe band.






A "Mash Direct" bus.
This is one of the good local food companies we have and I have to say their mashed turnip is great.






A DeLorean Car?

Yes a bit after the time of St. Patrick admittedly but Northern Ireland does have a link with DeLorean too.  You know a bit like our link with the Titanic.



What could you possibly have after a futuristic car?




Some Large headed characters.






A Christian Music Float.


We were delighted to see this - after all what are we celebrating St. Patrick for?


Not the shamrock,

           nor the snakes (or lack of them)

                        but for the Christianity he introduced to our island.




But then suddenly



2 Elvis impersonators??


No I know, we just could not see any connection here at all.
If you can think of one then please let me know.






And here come the Leprechauns - really?

This of course was clever and I hope not too heavy for the poor guy to carry along.






We also had two Mickey Mouse characters.

Okay we know they were there to amuse the children.






Another Pipe band.







And where else in the world would you get to see a POLICE TRACTOR  but in Northern Ireland?


Not even in the Republic of Ireland (Southern Ireland)  because it would be a Garda Tractor there.






A group of colourful children.






A Large Mushroom - presumably advertising the mushroom growing industry here.






Some more colourful children.





A Flower Giant.






A Blue stilt walker.






Another Pipe band.






A colourful dragon.

And no St. Patrick didn't slay the dragon - St. George the patron saint of England did that.

So a bit confused about the dragon but then realised he was followed by some dinosaurs and they didn't have anything to do with St. Patrick either so obviously we just enjoy colourful creatures.







Now we do have some folklore about a giant or two in Northern Ireland so to see a giant in this parade was not too unusual but riding a quad?

Although I must say I rather liked this guy.






Then we were coming near the end of the parade with another mini parade this time of Vintage Tractors  -  Fred quite enjoyed this bit as he was brought up on a farm and could remember some of them.

No I did not say my husband is vintage!






And some more very colourful people and children as the parade came to an end.


You could probably see from the pictures that it was a very cloudy, windy day and it was rather cold so Fred & I were all wrapped up in our heavy coats with gloves and scarves but regardless of the weather thousands of people came to Downpatrick to see the parade.


It was an afternoon out that was definitely not the usual for us and it was nice to walk back to the car with smiles on our faces even if they were getting red from the cold air.






Have you been to see a St. Patrick's Day Parade too?


Or are you planning to go see a St. Patrick's Day Parade in this year?


If so leave me a comment to say where you went or will be going, it will be interesting to see how many different places are covered.