* Ever thought about life as an anchorite? Given the state of the economy, not to mention swine flu, it’s beginning to seem appealing. One of the most secure, and sanitary, job prospects for people trying to avoid yellow plague in seventh-century Ireland was to hole up in a monastery.
* Anchorites were bricked into cells at the side of churches, each with only a tiny window to connect him or her with the outside world. Food came in through a hatch; bodily waste went out in a chamber pot. In between, anchorites spent their days in religious contemplation. Revered for their wisdom, they were also turned to as providers of advice and consolation for those in need of a sympathetic ear.
* One of the religious sites most closely associated with anchorites in Ireland is Fore Abbey, whose ruins you can see near the village of Fore, in Co Westmeath. A number of wonders attributed to St Fechin are associated with the site, all of which make it worth a visit. These include the monastery built on a bog, the mill with no race, the tree that won’t burn and the water that won’t boil. The final wonder is “the anchorite in a stone”, referring to the final inhabitant of the anchorite’s cell, occupied as recently as 1616.
* Even last year, such a life would have seemed insane. Now it’s beginning to look like a perfectly sensible way to get through the dark days ahead, assuming you can bring the BlackBerry.
