My friend Jackie posted this beautiful photo that she’d taken from the air this morning when her flight was coming into land at Belfast City Airport.
The photo clearly shows the Neolithic stone circle at Ballylesson that we lovingly refer to as the Giants Ring.
It is just about a mile from where I grew up and where a lot of walks were taken with boyfriends!
Holy Trinity Ballylesson, the church where we went as a family and where my parents are at rest overlooks the ring from an elevated point.
The perfection of the circle is so clear from Jackies photo. It is hard to imagine that it was made more than 5000 years ago and that, give or take a half mile or so, has been a site of worship ever since.
The most famous of these circles is Stonehenge in England but they are scattered all over the UK and Ireland. Another beautiful one that has featured in Game of Thrones is at Ballynoe. This is close to where Saint Patrick established his first Church at Saul and where our dear Saint is buried at Downpatrick.
Its not just in Europe though that we have sites like these. Each one of you could for sure share a story from your own homelands.
In Ohio there’s the amazing Serpent Mound in Adams County and just round the corner from our home the Olentangy Caverns. Nature carved the Caverns but the Wyandotte Indians made them their home.
The permenancy of these structures is a humbling perspective on the ingenuity of our ancestors.
Worth remembering next time we think we’re smart! Good idea to look for one close to home!
Blessing # 237 – History On The Doorstep
