Join us for a ceremony at Jim of the Mills to explore, celebrate, and connect with the divine feminine current within the Christian tradition. The day will include traditional Irish song and song from other traditions, story, exploration of texts, ritual, nature and elemental immersion.
A light vegetarian lunch is provided.
Tá an t-am tagtha. Now is the time. We are delighted to present to you an invititation to journey with us, Nóirín & Cáit Ní Riain, on an inner and outer pilgrimage, in all-oneness and in community, into five of the most profound Christian Mysteries, which ultimately, are celebrations of divine love. We will gather together at Jim of the Mills five times throughout the year and at Glenstal Abbey once, in song, in story, in prayer, in ceremony, for a cycle of sacred feasts of profound depth, mystery, and sanctity from the Christian tradition, two of which coincide with pre-christian ceremonial days that are marked by the cross quarter day of Samhain and the winter solstice, the darkest point of the year. Each of these ceremonies will be an invitation into deeper personal, communal, and spiritual contemplation. We feel this work to be of great importance at this time, in the lineage of the great souls that have so deeply felt and carried this impulse of the true message of Íosa Críost throughout the Earth. We both feel the call to add our unique voices and actions to the great message of divine love, in a space that is outside of, and free from the infiltrations of a corrupted force that has seeded its way into many institutions that claim to be representative of the message of Christ. We feel the soul desire and calling to hold a space for those who feel the call to be together as equals as we celebrate, contemplate, and explore in community some of the most profound Christian mysteries, with the natural world as our temple, and with the elements of water, fire, earth, and air as allies, in the spirit of Celtic Christianity, with the unquenchable power of the divine feminine and Mother Earth to the fore. .
For many years now, this ciorcal seo den bhliain – sacred cycle of the year – has been a vision, an aisling, for both Cáit and myself, shared between us, for the first time on Feabhra 13ú 2026: Anudging that has persisted through our many diverse yet unified , sources of inner, spiritual being and healing; this is one that has been waiting for this moment to emerge into a concrete expression of “where two or more are gathered in my name, I shall be with you.” (Matthew 18)
The timing is now right and ripe to translate this joint vision into six liturgies of the year that celebrate the crucial moments in the story of Christianity. With the toppling of the institutional church from. its high pedestal, the door is now wide open to retrieve and restore Celtic Christian spirituality to its rightful place. So many of the rich rituals and treasures were submerged under the seas of patriarchy and the dull, lifeless, all male institution that has outgrown the message of Christ which is one of love, inclusivity, active participation, compassion and generosity.
Together over a span of a year, our six gatherings will offer ever ancient, ever new insights gleaned from two women who are totally committed and addicted to the sharing of this new beginning. Our dedication to be the conduits of Celtic Christian truths has only one motivation above and beyond any financial considerations or ulterior motives of power, greed or proselytization. That singular drive is to share this personal, lived out experience of truths which we both have experienced in our own lives.
Coupled with this pledge and indeed inseparable from it, is our unique and precious fluency in the Irish language.
Both of us were not brought us with Gaeilge ón gcliabhán, but came to the Irish language through a shock of realisation of its inherent beauty and healing powers and indeed its innate connection to our spirituality. Hence, we both have come to know and want to share that this eloquence and confidence in speaking our own language is accessible to each and every one and is exclusive of no one. We shall be deepening that portal for people. Our souls have been set free, the prison doors unlocked, for us to dive into both our ancestral inheritance of the Word and the word – Soiscéal agus scéal.
Sé intinní do Lucht Freastail – 6 Intentions for Attendees
1. Comhphobal – creating a sense of community which endures and forms a thread in the tapestry of this Díseart. We will build and form a new community – a true place of God which is what our ancestors named the church long ago –Teach an Phobail – the people’s house – not the church.
2. Críostaíocht – We shall reveal new insights and rituals which celebrate the themes of each gathering; from Death and Resurrection to Advent, then to Pentecost of the Holy Spirit to embracing the Divine Feminine in ourselves, both male and female, to celebration of Mother Earth in all her glory, to coming full circle in ourselves as the seasons mirror our humanity.
3. Tír gan teanga – tír gan anam – we will be renewing our souls – ár n-anamnacha –through the most magical, effortless and accessible presentation of the Irish language through song, poetry and Scripture. One cannot separate any of these elements from the other.
4. Tuiscint áite – Genius Loci – sense of place
Five of our gatherings will be held at the magical genius loci of Jim of the Mills – a sacred space that has been teeming with the Spirit of the Divine for centuries throughout the ages. Cáit and her family, the current residents of this locality, are very clear and loyal to the reality that they are the custodians, the caretakers of this whereabouts for others and their generosity in so doing is remarkable and exceptional.
5. Comhluadar
“As scáth a chéile a mhairimid” – In the shadow/shelter of each other, we live and have our being. In our contemporary, post modern society, community and company has been radicallyshattered due to the failure of institutions to provide an adequate forum any more. Secondly, we live in the dangerous age of the machine where mechanisation is trying to silence deep, human, interpersonal connection and harmony. Movements such as we are presenting, are the antidote to the advancement of societal
bankruptcy. 6. Metanoia
Every gathering and indeed the overall outcome of this cycle promises a change of mindset and lifestyle for each participant. We know that our intention comes from a multifaceted and deep-seated desire to manifest a metanoia – a deep rooted change of mind and heart in ourselves first and foremost and then out into the world. This intention will manifest itself in and through the gatherings ensuring a result that will be genuinely transformative, true and authentic.
Nóirín Ní Riain Feabhra 15ú 2026
