The mission which photographer Valerie O'Sullivan undertook was a brave one: to capture in its own place "the fragile existence" of religion in Ireland today, taking in the contemplative orders as well as those for whom everyday work has a religious dimension.
Now, after criss-crossing the country with her camera, the result, her book Sacred Moments, has just been published by Veritas. The photographs are superb, the text is simple, but must be read in conjunction with the black-and-white images that stand out from the pages precisely because of their simplicity.
Ms O'Sullivan, who has worked as a freelance photographer in the south-west for the past seven years now works at News-Pics, a freelance agency in Cork run by photographer Mark Kelleher. Her work has appeared in the national media including The Irish Times and in various international publications.
In the opening chapter, Vigils, The Nunnery, she describes the life of the sisters in Glencairn, Co Waterford, who usually begin their day at 4 a.m.
The sisters obey the rule of St Benedict who swore: "Seven times a day have I given praise to thee." Their day, accordingly, is divided into seven periods of prayer: Vigils; Lauds; Terce; Sext; None; Vespers and Compline.
Work and prayer is the underlying philosophy in accordance with the saint's stricture Labo rare est Orare (to work is to pray).
Each page is illustrated with a graphic photograph, pen pictures of what life is like in the places visited on Ms Sullivan's photographic odyssey - plus quotations from scripture and psalms.
Alice Taylor, author of At School through the Fields, whose own new book - A Country Miscellany - was published recently by Mount Eagle with pictures by Richard Mills of The Examiner, wrote the foreword .
"Our ancient spiritual heritage is preserved by people of prayer and silence, people who connect our world to heaven through hours of meditation and creativity. Many of them are silent people who create the beauty in our churches and public places and raise our eyes to carry our minds on wings that break the barriers into the world of the wonderful.
"Then if, in later life, we have to look into dark pools, we may see reflected in their depths the starlight of that other world. There are times in life when we need to be carried by the genius of others in order to quarry our own crevices of genius . . . Valerie O'Sullivan has walked amongst her own people with a discriminating and true eye and what we have here is a picture of the spiritual underbelly of Ireland. We need to remember that it is there, lest in forgetting we may lose our balance.
"But while we have people who till the earth, challenge the seas and carve from stone, who sing with joy and seek peace in quiet places, they will preserve our spiritual roots. This book is an anthem to those people and an acknowledgment of all that is good in today's Ireland," says Taylor. "Let us welcome it and be glad. It will sharpen our awareness of what we are and enrich our inner pool of spirituality."
Sacred Moments delves into spirituality and the contemplative life in a very interesting way. Was it all pondering and reflection? "Not at all," says Ms O'Sullivan. "I had a ball."
There were two years of research. "It was hard work but most enjoyable. I wanted to delve into the mystery of contemplative life and religion in Ireland. I started on Good Friday 1997 in Glencairn Abbey and went on from there. I was given ready access - I just wrote to them and then telephoned to make the follow-up arrangements. There weren't too many problems. Later, I sent them on copies of the pictures and they loved them."
But where did the urge to do the book come from? The motivating factor, says Ms O'Sullivan, was the ostensible decline of religion in Ireland and her desire to show where it stands before the millennium.
Sr Agnes O'Shea, from Callan, in Co Kilkenny, is the abbess at Glencairn. "I am elected by the sisters and my role is to teach, heal and guide the sisters with the gentleness and sensitivity of the Good Shepherd," she told the author who describes Glencairn as follows: "It nestles in the rich heartland of Co Waterford. The main source of income is the dairy herd with 70 cows on 250 acres and 50 acres of woodland. The sisters are involved in growing grass, making hay and silage, milking cows once in the morning at 5 a.m. and again at 3 p.m. in the afternoon."
St Benedict ruled out begging as a form of support for his followers who were to thrive through the work of their own hands. "The milking is carried out by Sr Maria, who is also novice director at Glencairn. Her role is to accompany the newcomer through all the joys and trauma of her first years of life at the monastery. I introduce them to the observances and traditions of monastic life, helping each one to grow in Christ, and guide them through their vocational discernment," says the abbess .
Ms O'Sullivan also visited the Benedictine monks at Glenstal Abbey where morning prayer, vigils, are at 6.30 a.m., following the Benedictine pattern. "The monks arrive in single file and in silence. The sound of their psalms, from the Canticle of David, echoes gently through the church, as they sing in praise of another day with God in the house of the Lord."
The pilgrimage to Lough Derg forms a pictorial and narrative history as well, as does her visit to the Jesuit college of Clongowes Wood in Naas, Co Kildare. But there's more besides. The book celebrates the craft of the artisan. Men like Kevin Kelly, who has worked in stained glass since 1972. "Patience" is the chapter, with these words from Luke 13:18: "A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field. The plant grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make their nests in the branches."
Ms O'Sullivan photographed him working on the stained glass of Our Lady of the Sea Church in the Channel Islands.
Of the singer Noirin Ni Riain, who features in the book, the author says: "Her music is wild and sensuous and her mission is to sing and share her conviction."
And she quotes the singer: "Chant is more suited to women's voices; it should be treated very preciously. Everybody's interpretation is viable and it is all as colourful as we are."
Sacred Moments: A Photo- graphic Journey by Valerie O'Sullivan has just been published by Veritas.
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Readers who wish to contact Dick Hogan can leave messages by dialling (01) 670-7711, extension 6297.