Slán go foil Pronounced 'shlahn goh foihll' today's blog title means Goodbye for now. I am sorry for not having blogged since last Friday but I've 'flat out like a lizard drinking'. On Saturday I visited Trinity College Dublin. This university is probably one of the best known in Ireland. It is very old (on the site of an old monastery - though none of the original buildings remain) but even still many of the buildings date back to before Cook's voyage up t...

Today was the last day of the chaplain's conference. After breakfast we gathered again to pray - this time we gathered around the centre-piece pictured. There was a prayer services but it included this song - one of my favourites... Be still, for the presence of the Lord,the holy One, is here;come bow before him nowwith reverence and fearin him no sin is foundwe stand on holy ground.Be still, for the presence of the Lord,the holy One, is here.Be still, for the...

On Wednesday Eoghan (Owen) picked me up from my lodgings and we travelled down to Portlaoise for the chaplaincy conference. On the way he took me through some of the most historic parts of Dublin and then we headed down the motorway for about 1 ½ hours. After settling in I went for a stroll through the town of Portlaoise, grabbed some hot-chips from the fish & chips shop and then got lost. I ended up walking a long way, and then when it was getting dark...

I serendipitously caught up with a student at a local cafe for brekky at the local shops (having gone in search for an ATM). I had a 9am class in spiritual formation where the chaplaincy students had a guest speaker. It was a largely experiential class looking at both our spiritual identity and who we saw God to be in our experience of Him. I then attended another class (in liturgy) with the students led by Fr Pat. The group debriefed on a service that they...

Didn't have the best sleep last night...when I did rouse myself I was collected from my lodgings to visit a Dominican high school. There I met Sr Susie the chaplain at the school and spent the morning work-shadowing and chatting with her. It was a good opportunity to see a chaplain operating in a Catholic school. Also had the chance to chat with a few staff...afterwards Sr Susie dropped me back to Mater Dei, so I ended up missing the 20min walk back (can't...