Join us for a very special pilgrimage to Sacred Ireland in September of 2025!
Visit the sites associated with saints such as Patrick, Brigid, Columba, and Kevin who were inspired to build monastery centres of faith, learning and hospitality; where the arts flourished and books were copied and preserved.
Experience Celtic Christian practice and tradition in the sacred settings where it developed!
Led by Culture Honey founder and editor, Georgia Sanders, decide today to join us for this life-impacting journey!
Sacred Ireland: May 2026 – 9 nights
For further information and to reserve your place on one of our pilgrimages, email us at: pilgrimages@culturehoneytouring.com and visit www.culturehoneytouring.com to submit an application today!
Mr. Douglass’ time in Ireland is variously referenced as an “odyssey,” “compelling,” “a place where he found his voice.”
On his final day there, in a letter he wrote to William Lloyd Garrison, Mr. Douglass spoke of his time in Ireland with these words,
“I can truly say, I have spent some of the happiest moments of my life since landing in this country. I seem to have undergone a transformation. I live a new life.”
Like Georgia said, we are all on our own journey. The reason for a tour is so that we can “journey this path together for a time, whatever our backgrounds, wherever we find ourself in life.”
Brigid’s reputation for holiness, wisdom, generosity to the poor, and good management drew hungry souls to Kildare like bees to honey. The convent expanded into a monastery that housed both men and women.
It’s about “maintaining a time gone by, but with modern amenities”, Bríd Mc Auliffe, the Assistant Manager, tells me. The Wilder is a boutique hotel, designed to give the traveler a feeling of comfort, a feeling of home.
The Irish Saint Ciaran is remembered as the founder of Clonmacnoise, one of the greatest monasteries in Ireland. He is also numbered among the Twelve Apostles of Ireland.
Our walk was slow and deliberate. The story of Glendalough (pronounced ‘glen-da-lock’ and meaning ‘valley of two lakes’) and St. Kevin is one which takes time to sift through. It is a story of overcoming fears – the monster of the lake – and partaking on a journey to befriend that fear. It is a story of understanding and acceptance and, ultimately, peace.
Layering in a wool sweater and rain jacket insulated me from the chill and damp. Upon entering the monument site, I faced one of several hilly embankments and steep trenches surrounding the hill and several monuments. My hiking shoes helped me remain upright as I climbed up and slid down the rain-soaked ground. Upon reaching the summit, the mist was swallowed by a brilliant blue sky uncovering a majestic and sparkling green Boyne River Valley.
A pilgrimage typically can take the form of an outward physical journey, often to a quiet or holy place, where an inward spiritual journey can take place. Seekers of God, of peace, of self and of healing participate in a journey of trust that God (Life!) will lead them on and speak to them in so that sustaining peace will be found for living. Not all pilgrimages (or pilgrims) are necessarily religious. Of all the sacred places that I visited in Ireland, it was continually and simply stated that ALL humans are on a journey and that ALL were welcome to these sites.
Yet his (Columba’s) greatest legacy is the founding and development of the Monastery City of Iona. Iona became one of the most influential worship, educational, missionary, and political centers of the Western World until its destruction by Vikings in the 9th century. Iona also became the ‘mother’ of scores of monasteries…
