{"id":2726,"date":"2024-03-10T14:56:42","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T21:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2726"},"modified":"2024-03-12T12:03:36","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T19:03:36","slug":"restore-your-soul-in-saint-patricks-heavenly-ireland-and-via-eires-exports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/courses-and-travel\/2726\/restore-your-soul-in-saint-patricks-heavenly-ireland-and-via-eires-exports","title":{"rendered":"Restore Your Soul in Saint Patrick\u2019s Heavenly Ireland and Via Eire\u2019s Exports"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Arthur<\/a>

Arthur Shiels was inspired by the Giants Causeway. Photo by Harrison Shiels<\/p><\/div>\n

As St. Patrick\u2019s Day approached, Bono, and his Irish rock band U2, were on stage in Las Vegas about to perform their song \u201cPeace on Earth\u201d in the globe-shaped, dynamic new concert venue called The Sphere. \u201cWe are a\u00a0Saturday night\/Sunday morning kind of band, so I think it is okay to confess in this \u2018service\u2019 how religion can so enrage us sometimes,\u201d Bono preached. \u201cI understand how ridiculous \u2018love thy enemy\u2019 sounds right now, but we cannot live with just \u2018love thy neighbor.\u2019 It is a divine commandment – not advice\u2026but almost impossible to enact.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Dubliner, Bono grew up through an era of sectarian violence to the north – which the Irish referred to as \u201cThe Troubles\u201d – depicted in U2\u2019s song \u201cSunday Bloody Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Ireland we now have a fragile but beautiful peace that we are grateful for. It\u2019s not perfect but we are proud of what we have in Ireland. Tonight, we pray for the peace that passes all understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irish musician Patrick Browne grew up attending Mass on St. Patrick\u2019s Day in the little village of Ballingarry (\u201ctown of gardens\u201d), County Tipperary. \u201cFather Lyons was an unforgettable character of a priest who lorded over our village for decades, but I liked him. He used to play football and was known to be nasty on the rugby field,\u201d Browne revealed. \u201cAfter Mass my mother would always have a roast chicken stewing while my dad, sister and I loved going to a shrine to pray to Our Lady \u2013 Jesus\u2019 mother. My father said, \u2018If you want somebody to do something, ask their mother.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Harrison<\/a>

Harrison Shiels visited Ireland with his father Michael Patrick \u201cPaddy\u201d many times. Photo by Harrison Shiels<\/p><\/div>\n

Browne, at age 16, left home to study medicine in Galway, a city and county along Ireland\u2019s Wild Atlantic Way. It\u2019s a region Garrett Kenny, an Irishman who developed the Balmoral Vacation Home Resort near Orlando, Florida, said he finds soulful. \u201cGalway has rich culture, beautiful scenery, lovely beaches, and great people. I know a few literary types who went there to write books amidst its peace and quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kenny\u2019s countryman and colleague Chris Follenus dispenses Irish hospitality representing Visit Central Florida but meditates about the medieval Christan history at Glendalough and incredible places to walk and hike back in County Wicklow just to the south of his hometown of Dublin. \u201cWicklow is the \u2018idyllic Ireland\u2019 due to the waterfalls, woolen mills, a rolling mountain range, old estates,\u201d Follenus said, before citing another form of inspiration and commiseration. \u201cWicklow is also home to Ireland\u2019s highest pub: Johnny Fox\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ashford<\/a>

Ashford Castle Hotel & Resort. Photo courtesy Red Carnation<\/p><\/div>\n

The Guinness family, \u201cIrish royalty,\u201d once lived in what is now Ashford Castle, a Red Carnation, five-star luxury resort on 350 heavenly, green acres 27 miles from Galway and accessible via Shannon Airport. Golf, falconry, boating, and fishing are paired with gourmet, white-glove elegance at Ashford Castle, which has hosted nobility and prominent figures as one of Ireland\u2019s most celebrated landmarks. One can only pray to polish-off a traditional, savory, \u201cfull Irish\u201d fry-up breakfast and wash it down there with a creamy a pint of \u201cmother\u2019s milk:\u201d Guinness Stout.<\/p>\n

Michigan\u2019s largest pub is erected each September in towering tents during the Michigan Irish Music Festival at Hertiage Landing in Muskegon, the West Michigan, lakefront, beach town that also holds a St. Patrick\u2019s Day Parade in March. One of the festival\u2019s massive tents along the lake hosts\u00a0Sunday morning\u00a0Mass with live, authentic Irish songs played by musician who travel in from the Emerald Isle to perform throughout the weekend.<\/p>\n

\"Art<\/a>

Art Shiels poured a pint in a Belfast Pub. Photo by Harrison Shiels<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Inductions for the Michigan Irish American Hall of Fame take place that weekend, an institution chaired by Judge Neil Mulally, to which I am honored to have been inducted. Another Hall member, Paul Long, CEO of the Michigan Catholic Conference, is planning a trip to Ireland for his entire family in June of 2025. You may also dream and plan at\u00a0Ireland.com<\/p>\n

Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0<\/em>MShiels@aol.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0His annual St. Patrick\u2019s Day Party Radio Broadcast will be\u00a0Friday, March 15, at Spotlight Studios, 105. W. Allegan,\u00a0from 6-9 am. All are welcome to drop in for a toast.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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