Once upon a time there was a fair Irish maiden who, on a lovely spring morning, went down to the shore of Lough Gur to wash some laundry. As she worked, she noticed that a gentleman was approaching her. She had never seen him before, but he was quite well dressed and handsome. She assumed he had come from the grand house near the lough.
He showed her his hand, and in it was a golden ring. He said she could have the ring if she would come away with him. She told him she needed to finish doing her laundry first, so he set the ring down upon on a stone. But the ring slipped and fell into the lough, where it turned into rings of blood!
Shocked with fear, the girl made the sign of the cross. Instantly, the man disappeared into thin air.
Irish folklore is rich with tales about mysterious events happening at Lough Gur and the surrounding area, and one of the richest is Grange Stone Circle.
Located just a short walk from the west side of the lake, the Grange circle is named after the sun goddess, Grainne.
The second largest stone circle in Ireland, it is a complete ring made from 113 upright stones, the largest collection of of standing stones in the British Isles, with the biggest stone measuring more than 13 feet (4 meters) tall, and weighing an estimated 2200 pounds (40 tonnes).
Built at least 4,000 years ago, and possibly as far back as 6,000 years, Grange is a perfect circle, aligned to the east, so the rising sun at the Summer Solstice shines directly towards the entrance. This perfect geometry and orientation suggests the site was built for ritual purposes, and that is how it is still used today.
We will be in the circle next May, doing a Druid ceremony to honor the ancestors and the fertility of the land at Beltane, and we hope you will be able to join our small group. It’s our “Enchanted Ireland” tour – a spiritual travel adventure in the land of the faery faith, happening April 29 through May 8, 2023.
Here are a few more highlights…
- Exploring the Boyne Valley, featuring Ireland’s most notable sacred sites, Newgrange and Knowth
- Skellig Michael, with its extraordinary beehive huts
- On the Dingle Peninsula, 8thC Gallarus Oratory, 7thC Kilmalkedar Monastery and St Brendan’s Oratory
- In Kildare, St Brigid’s Holy Well and Cathedral
- The Hill of Tara, traditional burial place of Tea, ancestor queen and goddess of the Celts
Click Here To See Full Ireland Tour Details
Sneak Peek: Kathleen McGowan’s Turkey Coming Soon
We are putting the finishing touches on Kathleen’s “Sacred Turkey” tour, tentatively slated for May 11 – 20, 2023. It will highlight the mysterious land of the Ottomans from ancient Ephesus to the bizarre landscapes of Pamukkale. Experience an evening with the Whirling Dervishes in Cappadocia, see the awe-inspiring Blue Mosque, and shop for souvenirs in Istanbul’s picturesque Grand Bazaar.
If all goes as planned, we should be inviting you to check out Kathleen’s tour of Turkey in next week’s newsletter. Watch this space…
Photo credits:
Lough Gur No machine-readable author provided. Christian1965~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Grange Stone Circle The original uploader was Sverdrup at English Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
LoughGurStoneCircle Lukemcurley, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons