She’d danced me through St. David’s cathedral and then the Bishop’s Palace, wound up by the Afon Alun, been curtsied and bowed to by waving willows and low stones, passed Arthur’s Head, Pen Arthur, and the sadly gone, once station of a beautifully inscribed lone stone; She waved at a windy bear and a girl perched upon a chimney saddle, Pen Author, and then, in the gloriously bright sunshine She led me, with gathering excitement, to and through the wilds of St. David’s Head.
When Y Ddraig Ffraed showed me through the dunes by Whitesands Bay , near St. David’s, on 28th May 2019, on Her way to slip back into St. Bride’s Bay, I had no idea there had been a chapel there – though I knew something significant had been, because she wriggled and spiralled all through the site. I discovered this later, when looking at an old map.
Well, I’ve just come across this article on the chapel which suggests there’s a good chance Patrick left from here:
“It is said to be the place from where Patrick set sail for Ireland in the 5th century AD where he later became patron saint of Ireland, remembered on St Patrick’s Day (17th March). The chapel was built on the site of an earlier cemetery dating from at least the 6th century AD and it is thought that some of the people buried there may have known St Patrick, and some may even have been Irish.”
https://rcahmw.gov.uk/st-patrick-and-a-story-of-human-burial-and-coastal-erosion/
If Patrick did sail from here then there’s a very strong likelihood that he knew of this sacred feminine energy…and perhaps it marks, in an otherworldly way, the very first occasion where the energies of the two divines that were to become patron saints of Ireland first came together.
A few days ago I found out that there’s been another dig there, so drove down yesterday evening to have a look.
This morning I’ve found an instagram page all about the dig and with photos.
More links:
https://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/wp/
https://coflein.gov.uk/en/site/305394
https://www.visitpembrokeshire.com/latest-news/en/uncovering-ancient-connections
Click to access St%20Patrick’s%20Chapel%20Project%20Leaflet.pdf
Dig at St Patrick’s Chapel, Whitesands Bay uncovers fascinating objects
Video found on above link:
This video in on the 2015 excavations at St Patrick’s Chapel, St Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Love,
Ellis
17th July 2021