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Sacred Sites of Ireland
1. Glendalough monastery and round tower
2. Lady's Island
3. Blarney Stone
4. Mt. Gabriel
5. Rock of Cashel monastery and round tower
6. Kilmacduagh monastery and round tower
7. Inishmore cliffs
8. Mt. Croach Patrick
9. Knock church
10. Tobar and Ailt holy well and Carrowmore megaliths (near Sligo) 11. St. Patrick's island, Lough Derg
12. Slieve League mountain holy well
13. Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth megalithic sites
14. Inis Cealtra island
15. Hill of Tara
16. Baltinglass megalithic ruins
17. Drogheda; shrine of St. Oliver Plunket
18. Clonmacnois pilgrimage church
19. Holy Cross abbey
20. Monasterboice monastery and round tower
21. Killycluggin stone ring
22. Scattery Island; monastery and round tower
May Christ and His Saints stand between you and harm. Mary and her Son. Patrick with his staff. Martin with his mantle. Brigid with her veil. Michael with his shield. And God over all with His strong right hand.
-Irish Blessing
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Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland -- that they all went into the sea and drowned. Poor snakes. I don't know why he would want to do this, except that the snake was a revered pagan symbol, and perhaps this was a figurative tale alluding to the fact that he drove paganism out of Ireland.
