WHAT IS PRAYING THE KEEILLS WEEK ?

PRAYING THE KEEILLS WEEK is a week - usually in May each year - of organised opportunities to PRAY THE KEEILLS of the Isle of Man....to discover these places of great peace and beauty .....to sense their unique spirituality ..... to reflect on their place at the heart of our Christian journey ... and to deepen our own personal prayer life.

Click on PROGRAMME OF EVENTS to see the events planned for Keeills Week 2011 which runs from May 21st - May 28th. You can catch the spirit of a KEEILLS WEEK by visiting the NEWS section and reading the daily PILGRIM'S BLOG and other thoughts shared by those who have taken part in earlier KEEILLS WEEK walks and events. 

 Interested in the thumbnail pictures with the stories ? Double left-click on any picture to enlarge it.

 Also in the NEWS section you can read about KEEILLS WEEK in past years.

WHAT IS A KEEILL ?

WHAT IS A KEEILL ?

Keeills served a variety of purposes ??“ family chapels, wayside shrines, places of retreat and hermitage. There have perhaps been as many as 250, but remains, or known sites, survive for less than half this number.

The keeills were small buildings of earth and stone, very rarely bigger than 3 metres by 5 metres internally, and now survive to a height of less than a metre.

None of the remains can be shown to be older than the eighth century, but the sites and burials can date back to the sixth century, or earlier.

It is almost certain that Christianity arrived in Mann during the life of St Patrick, but who brought it, and from where, is the cause of great debate. The keeills are often on a mound, surrounded by a circular burial ground, and in general are the places where the wonderful series of Cross Slabs ??“ which are one of the Island??™s treasures - were found. Not all the crosses, however, are grave markers ??“ some (including the Calf Crucifixion Scene) are the upright front stone of the altar of the keeill.

Many keeills are associated with pre-Christian sites and some were even built over or into Bronze Age Cairns.

They are what our Celtic forebears would have described as being ???thin places??? where we can draw closer to God.

Prayer and meditation were very important to those who worshipped in or around keeills, as they should be to us.

PRAYING THE KEEILLS, organised by local Churches, gives an opportunity to step aside from the business of life, and rediscover what so many have lost.

MAKING IT HAPPEN ...

The PRAYING THE KEEILLS Taskforce is made up of representatives of Christian Churches of all denominations. The Taskforce is responsible for drawing up and publicising each year's programme of activities. The group benefits greatly from the extensive knowledge of local historian Frank Cowin, who provides expert guidance at the planning stages and accompanies several of the walking groups during Keeills Week itself.

 

The idea for the first PRAYING THE KEEILLS week in 2006 came from the then Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man, the Rt Reverend Graeme Knowles, and he was the first chairman of the Taskforce. Following his move to St Paul's Cathedral in September 2007, the work of the chairman was ably taken over by Reverend Peter Robinson who is the vicar of Arbory, Castletown and Santon parishes in the south of the Island. As a member of the Taskforce, Peter had taken a creative lead in the establishment of the  children's competitions and the development of the various publications produced for PRAYING THE KEEILLS, and as chairman he led two highly successful Keeills Weeks. In November 2009 he stood down as chairman.

 

The new chairman is Reverend Leslie Guthrie, who for 23 years was minister of St Andrew's United Reformed Church in Douglas and is now retired. He has been an enthusiastic member of the Taskforce since joining in October 2007.