Thursday, May 24
by Nick Budden, sophomore bass
Our day began at 9 a.m. but waking was finally easy. We’d officially adjusted to the time
difference and the overall pace of tour.
We said goodbye to the famous Georgian doors of Dublin and anticipated
the day ahead.
The entire day could be summarized by just one word:
contrast. Over the span of a few
hours we went from the crowded city of Dublin to the wide open spaces of
Glendalough, a monastic site that began in the six century. The gentle hills and city-scape
transformed into mountains covered in an ocean of green. This was the stereotypical Irish
landscape that we all had in mind.
Ireland’s forty shades of green were accented by vibrant yellow plants
called gorse. The landscape was stunning and we now understand why this
countryside was the setting of so many movies.
St. Kevin started the monastery of Glendalough. Its buildings include a round tower
(these are special to Ireland, although there are two in Scotland and one on
the Isle of Mann), a cathedral, other small huts for sleeping, and a graveyard,
all built between the 500s and about 1200. Its location was picturesque, centered on a hill between two
mountains, a valley, and two lakes (Glendalough, means the glen between two
lakes). A few choristers made
references to the Lord of the Rings, which seemed fitting. We had a short break to explore the
area and most of us opted to wander around the lakes. The setting and free time provided an opportunity for
simultaneous self-reflection and community building.
Our tour of Glendalough ended in song. We circled up outside
the chapel and near a gently flowing stream that provided the perfect
background ambience. The acoustics
of singing outdoors forced us to listen harder than usual, which strengthened
our sense of community even further.
Our evening concert was at the parish church in the little
town (population 1,000) of Ferns, the hometown of one of our tour managers, Tom
Doyle. The space was built in the 1970s, making it by far the newest
performance venue to date, and a huge contrast to almost all of the spaces in
which we’ve sung, since they were built in the medieval period. Its warm acoustics were a great match
for the warm “Drake Choir sound.”
The concert was very intimate because of the design of the
church and the enthusiastic crowd.
“Sleep,” “Os justi,” and “O verbum Patris were top-notch tonight and the
parish priest thank us for giving 110% effort. He also encouraged us to use our talents and to make the
most of the long lives ahead of us.
Re-energized, we looked forward to the day ahead in Killarney!
Here is the link to Thursday, May 24th photos:
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