Saint Patrick's Grave

 Saint Patrick, one of three Patron Saints in Ireland is reputedly buried outside the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity in Downpatrick, County Down.

There is a replica High Cross outside the Cathedral while the original is in the County museum which lies a mere 100 meters away from the Cathedral.

The Saints Grave is marked by a large stone upon which is carved both his name and a Cross.

The Cathedral houses a Bullaun Stone, the Ballykinler Stone, which was moved here from The Church of Saint Martin of the Mournes.

Downpatrick has several sites of interest and is well worth visiting.

Saint Patrick, Saint Colmcille and Saint Brigid are Ireland's three Patron Saints.

A National Patron Saint is chosen as a specific Nations intercessor and protector from amongst said Nations primary religious groupings.

To further explain....

A religion is an organisation which has evolved from "Cult" status and one which often practises ancient, obscure, ridiculous and illogical rites and rituals.

Cults are scorned however Religions are usually granted legal and state protections.

Some examples of Religions are : 

Scientology; which believes in Space people armed with Ray guns and brainwashing.

Christianity; which believes in magic bread and a man who is both his father and son simultaneously and who could fly. 

It also believes in miracle fish, wine being blood and a host of other weirdness far too comprehensive to list here.... And brainwashing.

Hinduism; which believes in Elephantine Gods, Sacred Cows and magic rivers....And brainwashing. 

Judaism; which has wonderfully archaic traditions including peculiar hair, various funny hats and a Wailing Wall as well as a "tradition" of child genital mutilation.....And brainwashing.

This particularly gruesome "tradition" is afforded full legal protection as long as it is only practiced on the male children. 

When practised on female children it becomes illegal and is called FGM.

Sikhism, which believes in never cutting your hair or shaving (both men and women)....And brainwashing.

Islam; which believes in a Winged horse, a magic meteorite in Saudi Arabia, not eating Pork 

and Women wearing all encompassing black blankets outdoors in any weather including heatwaves !...And brainwashing.

Shintoism; which can't make up its mind whether it's a Religion or a Culture.

Zoroastrians, Jains, Baha'i, The Solar Temple, Taoism, Latter Day Saints and their "magic underwear", Hutterites, Branch Davadians, Mennonites, Jehovah's Witnesses and their refusals of life saving blood transfusions and the Amish, amongst others, make up the roughly 10,000 or so worldwide Religions afforded legal protection no matter how outrageous, offensive, dangerous or downright stupid their beliefs or practises.

In order to become a Religion a Cult must at first proselytize and gain more adherents.

When a critical mass of adherents are gained the Cult then becomes an "accepted Religion".

As of the time of writing there are no legally defined number of members that a Cult must acquire before it gains its "accepted Religion" Status  however we can assume that a basic requirement would be several million at the least judging by precedent.

There is one further way to gain "accepted Religion" status and also avoid the "numbers problem" at the same time.

It's a loophole often used by malcontents, deviants, maladroits and certifiable Lunatics.

To completely avoid the unwelcome monicker of "Cult Status" an individual should first join or have been enrolled against their will as a child, 

in an "established Religion".

As an original member it is then simply a matter of contradicting some of the existing Religions basic tenets, espousing outrageous or scandalous addendums to pre-existing Church edicts or accusing your co-religionists of a charge of heresy or the lesser charge of hypocrisy.

Ultimately you should aim to be banished or excommunicated by the church "Elders" and subsequently form a "breakaway group".  

With enough followers you should be able to immediately establish a new Church with a new Religion and you at its helm as the Elder or better yet, "Chosen one".

You must however under no circumstances state publicly that yours is the "new" religion. 

Yours is the "one true religion" while any remaining adherents to the "old ways" and its 

Religion are either deluded simpletons to be pitied or outright heretics to be burned at the stake.

It is possible the ("new") "one true religion" may be temporarily assigned "Sect" status 

but this will be short-lived and formal "recognised Religion" status will follow shortly.

This is the loophole many emerging groups of lunatics use to avoid "Cult status".

Hopefully, however briefly, I have somehow explained what a Religion is.

There's doesn't seem to be much point in writing about a Patron Saint without first explaining what a Religion actually is.

A friendly Cat at Saint Patrick's Grave.

Keep drinking the Kool Aid and keep the wheels turning.

The Ballykinler Bullaun Stone.

Balbriggan Lighthouse Pics, Dublin.

 Just a quick post of a few photos of Balbriggan Lighthouse in Feb 2026.

The weather is a wee bit windy here the last few days.

A storm damaged wreck in the harbour.

Below is Balbriggan "Dead Zoo". 

I absolutely love it. 

Fantastic idea.

Memorial to Patrick Joseph Hanley on the Lighthouse.

Memorial to George Hamilton, builder, Baron and one time local " Grandee". Dated 1701.

Spot the disappearing Lighthouse !

No AI used, just needed to darken the overexposed shots a little.

Boats safely tied up in the harbour. 

The calm belies the storm outside the harbour walls.

Keep the wheels turning.

If you can run - run, if you can walk - walk, if you can crawl - crawl.

Three Stones in Dunleer

 Dunleer

Located at the Church of Ireland in Dunleer, County Louth are three unusual medieval Cross Inscribed Stones.

Each of the stones are quite different from one another.

Unfortunately in the slightly darkened light I was unable to make out the inscriptions on the stone to the right.

The smallest of the stones was very interesting and unusual in shape, chiefly being of false relief.

The stone with two Crosses inscribed upon it struck me as perhaps being a wayside Cross if it were erected upright and possibly missing a large fragment.

That's just supposition on my part.

The Church itself, like so many, is reputedly standing where once stood an early 6th or 7th century monastery founded by a Saint Forodran.

I have never heard of either of the Saints names associated with this particular Church but given that the martyrology of Tallaght probably contains many hundreds if not a thousands of names, this is to be expected.

BASFORD 1679 - The oldest headstone in the graveyard.

Saint Bridget is associated with Dunleer and she herself was born near the Hill of Faughart, also in County Louth.

Church of Saint Bethan and Saint Frethan Buildings of Ireland.

A beautiful Telford and Telford organ inside the Church.

Modern "Jostle" stones. Jostle stones were originally built and installed next to walls and buildings, especially at laneways and entrances to stop the wheels of horse drawn carriages from striking and damaging the masonry and brickwork.

Marian shrine from 1954.

Market House, Dunleer.

Keep the wheels turning.

Napper Tandy, Castlebellingham

 Napper Tandy

A recent trip travelling through Castlebellingham in County Louth brought back memories of an old Dublin pub probably long since closed, "The Napper Tandy".

Annagassan, County Louth.

James Napper Tandy was a revolutionary and a founding member of the United Irishmen.

The United Irishmen were a multi-denominational grouping including Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians and various other "dissenters" who were, for wildly differing reasons, opposed to British rule in Ireland.

Castlebellingham, County Louth

Their activity culminated in the failed rebellion of 1798.

After 1798 it was understood by the British authorities that they must do everything in their power to encourage sectarianism and keep the population of Ireland divided.

Napper Tandy's Grave, Saint Mary's CoI, Castlebellingham.

Should the Irish people become unified in their opposition to foreign rule ever again it would lead to the end of the British occupation of the Country.

This was the prevailing wisdom at the time and legislation was enacted accordingly in order to prevent such an occurrence.

Anyway.... Napper Tandy died in exile if France.

Saint Mary's R.C. Church, Castlebellingham.

Unknown to me and quite probably a lot of other people too, his remains were disinterred in France and brought to Ireland and his body was disembarked at the small harbour in nearby Annagassan.

He was reburied at night in the Graveyard of Saint Mary's Church of Ireland in Castlebellinghan.

It was quite by chance that I came across his grave here which just goes to show how much hidden history is actually hidden in plain sight, if only we take a moment or two to look around us.

Ancient order of Hibernians - Napper Tandy.

Dictionary of Irish Biography

Keep the wheels turning

Assorted Photos, Castlebellingham, County Louth.