A letter from Castlebar, Ireland: The Legend of St. Patrick

By Ernie Sweeney,  Sauk Valley Newspapers

This is another in an occasional series of letters from Dixon's sister cities around the world: Dickson, Siberia; Herzberg, Germany; Thika, Kenya and Castlebar, Ireland. Today's letter comes from Castlebar, where the story of St. Patrick has its roots. For more information about Sister Cities, go to www.discoverdixon.org and click on the Sister Cities link.

The ruins I came upon in the old graveyard one Sunday afternoon set me thinking.  My imagination took over and I found myself back among the people who lived here in the days of Patrick on his missionary journey. It would then seem to me that Patrick came through Ballynew, up the Castlebar River and on to the lake called Lough Lannagh, which means "the lake of the children."

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