Priest on the Periphery

Pádraig Standún has spent nearly half a century as a Roman Catholic priest in the Gaelic-speaking islands, highlands and coastlands of the West of Ireland. His articles reflect the changing seasons of the church year and their connection with nature. It is no coincidence that death is commemorated during winter’s dying of the light and falling of the leaves. Resurrection takes place amid the bursting buds of spring, while the Holy Spirit arrives with lightning-tongues and thunder in May or June. Priesthood deals with life and death, tears of sorrow and of joy. Wit and wisdom are to be gleaned from the spirit of a people shaped by land, sea and mountain, people who refused to have their language taken out of their mouths.