Celtic Spirituality

Celtic Spirituality is a Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies class taught by Robert Meagher.

Course Description
This course explores the ancient sacred traditions of Ireland: megalithic, Celtic, and Christian. Its central aim is to reveal the serial continuity of these traditions in their layered complexity, each drawing upon and absorbing what preceded it. Based first in County Limerick, the students receive several daily lectures from the scholar-monks of Glenstal Abbey on the intellectual, artistic, theological, and ritual legacy of megalithic and Celtic spirituality, culminating in early Irish monasticism and preserved in ancient field monuments, artwork, and texts. In addition to lectures, the students experience first-hand the daily life of a contemporary Benedictine monastery, from the liturgy of the hours to meals in silence to informal conversations with the monks. The second part of the course, focused on museums and archaeological sites, is based in Dublin, with field trips to counties Meath, Wicklow and the west of Ireland. Each student is expected to study the core texts of the course in advance and to submit six essays by the end of the trip.