Climbing Brandon: Science and Faith on Ireland's Holy Mountain

by Chet Raymo

An acclaimed science writer celebrates an enduring symbol of Ireland’s Celtic past, Christian tradition, and love of nature

Mount Brandon is one of several holy mountains in Ireland that attract scores of believers and secular trekkers from around the world. For thirty-two years, Chet Raymo has lived part of each year on the Dingle Peninsula, near the foot of the mountain, and he has climbed it perhaps a hundred times, exploring paths that have been used for centuries by pilgrims in search of spiritual enlightenment. But the history and geography of Mount Brandon are what drew Raymo to it and offered him a lens through which to view the modern conflicts between science and religion.

When Ireland converted from paganism, it became home to a kind of Christianity that was unique in Europe—intensely intellectual yet attuned to nature, skeptical yet celebratory, grounded in the here-and-now yet open to infinity. In this rich celebration of Mount Brandon, Raymo weaves together myth and science, folklore and natural history, spiritual and physical geographies. He takes us to a time on the wave-lashed edge of the Western world when Mediterranean Christianity ran up against Celtic nature worship and the Irish—with their fondness for ambiguity, double meanings, puns and riddles—forged a fusion of knowledge and faith that sustains us today.

Genres: Ireland, Irish Literature, Spirituality, History

208 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2004

About the author

Chet Raymo (born September 17, 1936 in Chattanooga, Tennessee) is a noted writer, educator and naturalist. He is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Stonehill College, in Easton, Massachusetts. His weekly newspaper column Science Musings appeared in the Boston Globe for twenty years, and his musings can still be read online at www.sciencemusings.com.

His most famous book was the novel entitled The Dork of Cork, and was made into the feature length film Frankie Starlight. Raymo is also the author of Walking Zero, a scientific and historical account of his wanderings along the Prime Meridian in Great Britain.

Raymo was the recipient of the 1998 Lannan Literary Award for his Nonfiction work.

Reviews

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biased review because my ancestors are from the base of mount Brandon. If you like a weaving of natural history with anthropology with theology focused on a weird coastal pocket of southwestern Ireland, this is the book for you. Beautifully written too.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

”I am the fairest of flowers" wrote Amergin, traditionally the earliest of Irish poets; he knew that the miracle of growth partook of divinity. I know more than did Amergin about how flowers grow. I know, for instance, how a "four-letter" chemical code along the dancing spiral of the DNA ensures that the blossom will be that of thrift and not of heather. So I add to Amergin's revelation: I am the fairest of flowers. I am the dance of the DNA. I am the language of amino acids. I am a blossom assembled from atoms of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen according to a chemical script shared in part by every living thing on Earth. Knowledge is an island in an infinite sea of mystery; as the island grows, so does the shoreline along which we encounter the mysterious.

I read Chet Raymo’s gorgeous Honey from Stone earlier this year, and Climbing Brandon is another beautiful book about the Dingle peninsula, this time focused on the experience of scaling its highest peak and living in the mountain’s shadow. If there is a god is then their spirit is surely more present in nature than in any building, and Raymo’s writing seems to capture that feeling. Also, particularly in current times, it’s nice to read work by a religious person who feels that science stands in tandem with his faith, rather than in opposition to it.

[MaureenMcBooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend lent me this book after my trip to Ireland last fall and I enjoyed reading this account of climbing a mountain we had seen in our travels. I enjoyed the scenery and history as well as the faith/science argument. I found some of the chapters — when he let his academic perspective get the better of hip — really slow going, which is why I just give it 2 stars.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, a bit too detailed with one area/mountain in western Ireland. Book was slow and more of a geography/history book with lessons in historic religion. I found the book interesting but am giving it 3 stars as it's not a "must read" book, one if you are interested in Irish history.

[Terzah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thought-provoking and educational read with some beautiful passages. I'd never thought much before about the theological conflict between those who view God as a transcendent force outside and beyond nature and those who (like the ancient Irish Christians as described by the author) view him as immanent in nature and inseparable from it. Despite my interest in the question and my love of some of the details like his description of a night spent in the remote Gallarus Oratory, I didn't think this book was as strong in the end as some of Raymo's other books--there was a lot of repetition. Nonetheless, I enjoyed learning a little more about this beautiful corner of Ireland.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a combination of nature, science and the mystical on Ireland's second highest mountain. For me it was personally some more information on the person whom I named my son after. I'm going to Ireland next summer, and just want to keep looking things up and learning new things.

[Ed G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent so far, a bit of history, travel (sort of), religion all relating to Ireland and a special mountain in the South West of the island.

[Anne Twiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little book that makes me want to go back to Ireland! Next time I'll climb that mountain.

[Gail Kennon]

wonderful companion to a joyful theology which i'm rereading concurrently..will read more of raymo's beautiful work.