Gallus Oratory

An old work colleague Rory visited me while my computer was on the blink. One can work with people and know little about their background and upbringing. We got reminiscing about our childhood days. I didn’t know Rory was born in London and grew up there. He was there during the blitz and then the time of the doodle bug rockets. His mother was stone deaf so Rory had to warn her of air-raid sirens sounding. The doodle bugs were scary. If the sound cut off overhead it was O.K. – the glide path would take it on further. But of the sound was approaching then it was all senses alert waiting to see if it cut out. His father was killed in a traffic accident during the war and his mother had re-married. The step-father was a New Zealander and so they emigrated here in 1946. Life stories are always fascinating.

Rory’s father was Irish. He talked of going there as an adult and meeting scuds of relations. We both got animated describing our drives round the ring of Kerry and out on the Dingle peninusla. We discovered we both had been fascinated by the old stone rings and grave sites of SW Ireland. And we both confessed to being moved by the Gallarus Oratory.

The Gallarus Oratory is a tiny church dating from the 6th century. It is built in the shape of an upturned boat. Built of dry stones there is no roof; instead the stones taper towards the top. They are perfectly fitted together and it is completely waterproof inside. It needs to be, this is a very wet part of the world. There is an open door and a little round window at the other end. On the day I went there was a candle flickering on the altar, a reminder that mass had ben celebrated there for well over a thousand years. The little building was appropriately surrounded by fuchsia bushes with little red flowers, Now I understand there is a massive car park and shop. When I went there was just the church surrounded by small fields with stone walls.

Something similar has happened to the old Bronte parsonage at Hawarth in Yorkshire. On my first visit one could walk out the back door straight on to the moors. But 24 years later there was a large modern gallery attached to the old building.