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my Irish love, Cork: Ardeaglais Naomh Fionnbarra


Happy Tuesday! And Happy September! Can you believe it’s September already?! How are you doing? Are you taking time to check-in with yourself and give yourself the care, love, and attention you need? If not, it’s perfectly okay to set aside time for yourself to do whatever you want/need to do during ‘me time.’ Maybe your thing is yoga, meditation, running, reading, tending to a pallet garden you built, sewing some pillowcases for your home decor, making a dress to match your homemade mask, paddle boarding, refurbishing furniture, woodworking, tooling around with some new tools, or even playing animal crossing with family and friends, but whatever you want to do during your assigned ‘me time,’ make sure you’re doing it and giving yourself a break.

If you didn’t get a chance to read yesterday’s post - “my Irish love, Cork: Crawford Art Gallery” - you can click here to read about our return to my favorite Irish city, Cork, and the time I spent wandering through the (free admission) Crawford Art Gallery! Yesterday’s post also includes the rest of the links to my blogs about my fun experiences in Cork in case you needed to catch up! If you are all up to date on the adventures, then let’s continue, shall we?

One of my favorite things to do while I lived in Europe was visit and tour old churches. If you didn't get a chance to read my post on visiting the Vatican, you can click here for that post! Now, European churches are a historical mixed bag. It’s hard to ignore the amount of abuse that took place in the construction of the old buildings, as well as the abuse that has taken place inside the walls, as well. But if you are able to put historical atrocities aside for just a few minutes and acknowledge that history hardly ever ages well and that putting anything of olden days under today’s microscope will (more often than not) lead to some level of embarrassment, there is a kind of structural, architectural, and aesthetic admiration that can take place. After all, more than one thing can be true at any given moment. Churches can be beautiful breathtaking structures worthy of admiration, and they can also be the basis for many horrifying examples of abuse and corruption of power. Necco Wafers can be a chalky candy, and they can also be the body of Christ - Amen - when you play Holy Communion for funsies.

Ardeaglais Naomh Fionnbarra, or Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, is an example of a beautiful church I visited while in Cork. A Gothic Revival three-spire cathedral in Cork, it has undergone several demolitions and renovations, making it what it is today. Although the Church’s Christian roots date back to a 7th century AD monastery, during part of the Protestant Reformation in the early 1500s, the cathedral became part of the Church of Ireland. Its most recent demolition and remodel was funded by the Anglican Church in the mid-1800s, making it the version of the church that still stands today.

When I first entered the Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, I didn’t know about the complex history and multiple makeovers. I did, however, find it to be a peaceful place that felt like it held importance in the Cork community. It was very quiet - as most older European cathedrals are when visiting - and filled with cardboard cutouts and signposts of the history of the church and of Cork.

It was a beautiful place to visit architecturally and a beautiful place to wander through, admiring the stillness and quietness of the experience, as well as the intricate details of the building’s interior. Have you ever visited a beautiful cathedral - in Europe or otherwise? Let me know! Subscribe in the e-mail submission box below and reach out, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and reach out to me on the “contact” page. I’m so happy you're here and that I’ve been receiving a lot of really incredible stories, questions, and feedback from a community all over the globe! Other people’s stories that I’ve gotten to read via e-mail, text, tweet, DM, etc. recently bring me such smiles, and I am so grateful for all of it! I hope I get to hear all about whatever stories you’ve been thinking about as we’ve been on this virtual journey together! Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you have any restaurants/eateries/pubs/coffee shops/ice cream joints/theatres/lookout spots you would recommend in other countries or even in your current home town or city, I'm absolutely 100% all ears!! I couldn’t do this without you! So THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart, truly, thank you.

Sincerely,

Johny

P.S. - If you want to catch up from the beginning on this series of travel adventures, here's a cheat sheet to the posts (in order in which they were published):

1. Won't you join me?

2. grateful for starbucks and sandymount strand

3. Once Upon a December in the National Gallery

4. plant a smooch for that gift of gab

5. may the 4th be with you: Dingle style

6. cinco de mayo: the best Mexican food in Dublin

7. pizza in roma

8. mussolini’s window and the philosophers’ metro stop

9. father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife

10. it's the vatican, not the vatican't

11. spoiler alert: i did not lose my hand

12. more pizza and gelato and Neptune, oh my

13. craft beer, romper season, and volcano magic

14. bus singalongs and the okey dokey karaoke origin story

15. the beginning of the journey to the land of outlander

16. the boy who lived and the musical rapper

17. oh i just can't wait to be kingggg

18. fudge and haggis, quite the dynamic duo

19. the banshee labyrinth... or, my first time trying buckfast

20. the world's most magical toilet

21. gwyneth paltrow's (improv) sliding doors

22. scottish sombreros and jam, thank you

23. bob seger, a cèilidh, and arthur's seat

24. the next maxim cover girl!! 25. you can vote now!!

26. kindness at… the airport??

27. conversations with strangers and #basic meals

28. aren't gas stations amazing?!

29. not just mac's... supermac's

30. American vs. European Cell Phone Providers

31. brown bread ice cream

32. Black Lives Matter

33. technology and theatre

34. a love of Dublin pizza: Manifesto

35. a love of Dublin pizza: Dublin Pizza Company

36. a love of Dublin pizza: with my dad

37. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness

38. thank you! round 2!

39. a love of Dublin pizza: and every other pizza

40. ahh-oooooh werewolves of london

41. a special london edition nerd alert

42. defying gravity is a WICKED good time

43. that wanker Van Morrison

44. The Cursed Child at the Palace Theatre

45. LA girls love London green juice

46. Super Bowl LII Champs at Wembley

47. champagne fizz and fruity cocktails

48. How-to: DIY Pallet Garden

49. dublin tattoo magic

50. juneteenth

51. thank you! Maxim round 4!

52. dublin bog bodies

53. dún laoghaire ice cream

54. local celeb sighting

55. 13.1 in Dublin

56. thank you! Maxim round 5!

57. every girl likes a bad boy

58. poolbeg lighthouse

59. conflict, bias, and propaganda in belfast

60. bow to your lord mayor

61. HAPPY HAMILTON DAY!!

62. Maxim Cover Girl Quarter-Finals!

63. gulliver's travels in belfast

64. all aboard the HMS Caroline

65. all aboard the RMS Titanic

66. you know nothing, jon snow

67. cave-born shadow babies

68. afraid of heights?

69. giants and their egos

70. the Kingsroad

71. sunsets in Donegal

72. derry dining chains

73. Maxim Cover Girl Semi-Finals!

74. Spontaneity is Key

75. Dear Nana

75. blasket island centre

76. Nana's blue tin cookies

77. a dance lesson in Dublin

78. dublin to Royal Portrush

79. Shane Lowry's Open Championship

80. maxim and Belfast Chinese food

81. Irish beachy wild women

82. my Irish love, Cork

83. my Irish love, Cork: hot chocolate

84. my Irish love, Cork: knit life

85. my Irish love, Cork: English Market

86. my Irish love, Cork: Blackrock Castle

87. one year ago today

88. pastis and the French Riviera

89. French Alps swim session

90. French weddings

91. Saucisson and delicious olives

92. wine and mustard at Château Virant

93. beers, brats, and salt mine showers

94. salted white dresses and blue satin sashes

95. salt mines and bowling alleys

96. science tea and pure comedy

97. 31 lessons for 31 years

98. youtube, a chalk horse, and stonehenge

99. Yamamori: the best Japanese food in Dublin

100. 100th post of quarantine!

101. my Irish love, Cork: Crawford Art Gallery

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