We have a good friend, Tom Morgan. Over the years, Tom has helped us with many things at the cottages, including building some of them. Usually I would be ringing him for a bit of advice about how to fix something, or who to go to for help. Tom is a great man for sayings and old Irish proverbs. Last year I asked him to remind me of some, and I took a recording of his collection when he turned up on his tractor for a visit. There is one that he shared with me that stayed in my mind. The Irish way of saying it is, “Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine” which translates to “In the shadows, or the shelter of each other, the people live.”
I am not the best at grasping these things straight away, so I asked Tom to explain it to me. He said, “It just means we cannot live on our own. We need each other. People survive and thrive because of community, because we lean on one another.”
As he spoke, I realised it was not about big gestures or grand ideas, but the everyday way we share life together: the small kindnesses, the neighbourly help, the sense that none of us are meant to go it alone.
I am very lucky to live in a place that demonstrates this so well with the people around me. In my mind though, community does not just mean people. It can also be the nature that surrounds us.
When I mentioned this saying to another neighbour, Maria Garvey, a native Irish speaker, she explained it slightly differently: “in the shelter of each other, we find life.” She also pointed out that it can mean we live in one another’s shadows. Then she said, “That is interesting in another way, because it reminds us of wholeness, not just light but shadow too. Nature teaches us that. Life is not all summer. Seeds and fungi need the dark as well as the light.”
Well, you can imagine how much I enjoyed this way of looking at things! (See my previous post on fungi here)
Her words made me think about how often we are too busy to stop and reflect on what we want, on how we connect with the world around us, and what truly matters. Just yesterday, a regular guest asked me how things were going. I found myself talking about the kind of guests we have here, and how I see Rostrevor Holidays as something more than just accommodation. Stefan and Veronica are houseparents at Camphill Community Glencraig and were here on holiday with residents. They agreed with me that this valley has something special, it is a space that holds people. Stefan suggested to me that perhaps I need to share that message with others, so they could see for themselves.
The Kilbroney Valley, often called the Healing Valley, has long been a place where people come for reflection and rest. Before it was called Kilbroney, it was Glen Seichis. People have been coming here for centuries for prayer, gathering, and time apart. In a way, retreats are part of the valley’s story. For centuries this has been a place for retreats in the Mourne Mountains.
But what does a retreat mean? To me, it depends on the person and what they are looking for.
Spiritual or Religious Retreats
We have welcomed church communities who wanted to spend time in prayer, away from the rush of parish life. I have also seen smaller spiritual circles gather here. One group came for a shamanic retreat, another for quiet meditation — reminders that healing retreats in Northern Ireland can take many shapes.
Community Retreats
The retreats with L’Arche stand out for me. They brought laughter, music, and stories, filling the cottages with a wonderful sense of belonging. We have also hosted retreats where the main focus was simply giving people a safe and peaceful place to be. Those times remind me that sometimes a retreat is not about doing more, but about doing less, and letting people breathe again.
Creative Retreats
Some of the most memorable creative retreats in Ireland have happened right here. A few years ago, we hosted a singer songwriter retreat organised by Andy Peters of Frontier Promotions. By day, they wrote songs and encouraged each other. By night, they gathered in Ceili House to share what they had created. At the end of the week, the participants held a ceilidh where everyone performed their own songs. There was laughter, nerves, and something quite magical in the air.
Adventure Retreats
Some groups come here for the mountains themselves. I have seen people set out to tackle the Seven Sevens challenge, or climb Slieve Donard together. They come back tired, muddy, and beaming. The retreat is in the journey, the challenge, the camaraderie of shared effort. The likes of Walk the Mournes or Mourne Mountain Adventures are great people to help you achieve a goal.
Nature Retreats
Others come seeking the slower rhythms of the valley. Guests have spent their time birdwatching both on site, and then taking a day trip to Castle Espie. One group came for foraging, spending their mornings in the hedgerows and their afternoons cooking together. Sometimes that is all a retreat in nature really needs — the gentle rhythm of noticing what is around you. These kinds of nature retreats in Ireland have a way of bringing people back to themselves.
Personal Retreats
And sometimes it is just one person. One guest stayed for a week to write a play. Another took time to meditate and journal. I have seen people arrive with no plan at all, simply knowing they needed to stop. And in the quiet of the valley, the retreat found them.
Each retreat has been different, but they all circle back to the same truth: in the shelter of each other, in the shelter of nature, community, and stillness, we find what we need.
Maybe that is all a retreat really is. Not a formal thing, not a big production. Just the gift of time and space, where you can reconnect with yourself, with others, and with the world around you.
