I’m not sure where I first heard of or read the Irish phrase ‘áit iargúlta’ - maybe it was in Seadna by An t-Athair Peadar. Anyhow, is cuma, no matter, it’s just an amazing little phrase. Just two words but it conjures up so much.

If one takes out the Irish/English Foclóir (dictionary), well - take your pick!

The word áit is simple enough - a place - the ‘fada’ makes all the difference! Áit is a place but without the fada, ‘ait’ can mean strange, unusual or odd!

In Matthew’s Gospel, he wrote that Jesus went to a quiet place on his own and ‘when evening came, he was still there, alone’. In today’s world we’d probably say he was ‘chilling out’ or having a digital detox!

No man is an island, and we know that ‘ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine’ (we live in the shadow of one another) - even the Bible told us ‘it was not good for man to be alone’.

All this is very true, but now, more than ever, we, as human beings, need time on our own.

I’ve travelled to Lourdes on my own in November or December for the last 14 years. For a town thronged and bursting to the seams from February ’til October, winter time there is so, so different. No tourists, no pilgrimages, nearly all shops, pubs, hotels, cafes, and restaurants closed until springtime.

Many people have asked me would I be very lonely there all on my own? The answer, of course, is the difference between being alone or being lonely.

Thousands of people today are lonely, living in towns and cities. They have hundreds, maybe thousands, dwelling in close proximity, yet they have no connection or interaction with neighbours. That’s loneliness, and of course it pervades also in many parts of rural Ireland. It’s sad and has increased in modern times.

In the past, we relied on neighbours for help........

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