Any of you who follow me on twitter or Facebook  will know that Richard Scriven and I have  just finished writing  a book about pilgrimage  in Cork City called  Wells, Graves & Statues. Exploring the heritage and culture of pilgrimage in medieval and modern Cork City.

 

Its  been a really exciting journey, over the course of  our research we discovered a rich and complex range of pilgrimage sites within the city some of which we had not heard of before.  The pilgrim sites of Cork  stretch from medieval time down to the present with the  latest edition a labyrinth garden in the grounds of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral opening in 2015.  There is also lots of variety in the site types  that  include a  medieval cathedral, holy wells, medieval statues and graves.

The books came back from the printers last week.  There was a lot of anticipation and excitement opening the boxes , how does the book look ? will people like it?  Thankfully Richard and I were very pleased with the results. We are very thankful to all who helped us along the way, those who provided information and access to sites, commented on drafts of the book  etc.,

Our book would not have been possible without the help of  Cork City Council and  who provided funding through Cork City Council’s Heritage Publication Grant Scheme 2015. We would also like to thank Niamh Twomey the Heritage Officer, of Cork Citywho  provided great support and advice throughout this project.

On Wednesday night  our new book – Wells, Graves and Statues – was launched by the Bishop, Dr Paul Colton, in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cork

I can’t thank enough everyone who took the time to join us, family,  friends, history and pilgrimage enthusiasts,  some of whom traveled  from outside the county to be here. Their presence made it a wonderful event,

As the oldest pilgrimage site in Cork, St Fin Barre’s Cathedral was the perfect place to launch our book and we both feel very privileged and honored to have been given permission to host our launch here.   We could have not found a more splendid setting and all who attended the launch took time to explore and admire the interior of this magnificent building.

The event kicked off  with a welcome was given by the Dean of Cork, the Very Reverend Nigel Dunne.

The  book was then officially launched by Bishop Colton who gave a wonderful and entertaining speech.

Launching the book Bishop Colton said:

‘This is a very readable book which draws deeply on our strong sense of place, not least in Cork. It is a multi–layered, interdisciplinary book which draws on the expertise of these authors – Richard and Louise – in their respective fields of geography and history, and archaeology and Celtic civilisation. More than that, there are impulses of theology, spirituality and folklore. Above all else, the book touches on that deep–seated nerve of the human spiritual quest on our journey through life.’

Richard and I  then said a few words about the history of pilgrimage at the cathedral, and the significance of the book.  The night concluded with tea  and biscuits  giving us a chance to chat to those who attended and sign a few books.

I can not thank St Fin Barre’s Cathedral enough for making us feel so welcome and facilitating us on the night.

For any of you who missed the launch  our book is available  in a number of places around  Cork City & County:

Sunday’s Well Post Office

Liam Ruiséal Bookshop Oliver Plunkett Street

Beneditus Bookshop North Main Street

Midelton Bookshop

For those of you  outside of Ireland  our book  can be purchased through amazon

Amazon.fr (€), Amazon.co.uk (£), or Amazon.com ($), and as an e-book on Kindle from Amazon.co.uk (£) or Amazon.com ($)

 

Our website  Corkcitypilgrimage  will have regular updates relating to retailers and upcoming talks.

 

 

 

 

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