St. Colmcille’s Well, Kells : A Celebration in Music and Spoken Word

On the eve of St.Colmcille’s Feast Day, join us for a musical interlude as we remember Colmcille at the very site where his monks drew fresh water for the Kells monastery. This holy well was a source of life, a location for baptisms and a pilgrimage site for hundreds of years. On June 8th, in early Summer sunshine and suffused by the fragrance of Whitethorn and echoed in the song of the blackbird, the traditional music echoes through the leafy glade. A poignant memory of Colmcille the exile is evoked through the music and the spoken poem attributed to Colmcille himself. Perhaps the pain of the exile can be tempered a little when we reflect that this is the site of ‘The Homecoming’, the place to which the Columban monks returned when they were forced to leave Iona. The event features musicians Cnocán an Teampaill from the Ráth Charn Gaeltachta. Spoken word: Valery O’Connell. Poem In the Footsteps of Colmcille. I gCoiscéim Cholmcille.