Holy Smokes! Holy Water!

Let me start by admitting that I am not religious. So the idea of holy water for sale seems odd to me. But here in Ireland I have become a particular fan of St Peter’s Church in Drogheda which houses the head of Oliver Plunkett. Not that I am a fan of such horrid treatment of martyrs, even if he did become a saint. But they actually have a two-story shrine holding his head. And they have a few assorted bones of his as well that they cherish. Needless to say, when I am in Drogheda I often drop in to St. Peter’s just to see how Oliver is doing.   

Not to be too graphic, but his head is in that shrine!

Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

And on a recent trip to Drogheda I found myself sitting in a back pew there avoiding a lashing rain and just checking in.

It’s a beautiful church even though it houses a head.

I saw a little gift shop I had never noticed before. It had books on Oliver and the history of the church. And in the corner it had a big canister of Holy Water. It looked a lot like what my kids used to sell lemonade. 

The set-up for your Holy Water.

I asked about it, and discovered that the water was free but if you wanted a little bottle to put it in, they'd sell you one for a euro. So I had to get some. Most churches have a basin of Holy Water for entering and leaving the church. And I’m told that a lot of churches have Holy Water for you to take home. I've just apparently never noticed it. But Oliver Plunkett Holy Water seemed like a must have thing to me.

Tapping in.

Emily, my gift shop guide, told me that the reason Oliver's head had never rotted (it looks mummified to me) was because he was a true saint, and had been blessed with Holy Water. Now I don't know if that can actually be, but it was worth a euro to me.