37 THE GRACE BEFORE AND AFTER MEALS AS FOUND IN THE IRISH TRADITION ccm:nunities have found great dif f iculty in f inding suitable prayers f or Many to use before and af ter meals. This prompted me research a- nong to the Irish traditional prayers see if same suitable ones might be found . The following collection is the result. many It will be seen that they cane f rom parts of Ireland; and for Arrerican readers I have included a map showing the areas f rom which the prayers came in relation to sare of the larger centers of population. The prayers contain many ideas whidl even in this era of modern theolo;nr are relevant. We f ind great emphasis placed on fellowship or ccmnunity. Another ve:ry cx::mron note is that of thanks , not only f or the present, but also for all we we the good things which have ever received and f or which have not given thanks. We also see in these prayers how our people realized the necessity of bodily f ood if are to live a spiritual life. Indeed, we it ITil.lst be stressed that the lif e of the soul is closely linked with that of the body in the minds of the old people of Ireland. It is well nigh impossible to put a date on these prayers. They are , to as I have said, prayers of the people, were widely used, and are be f ound all over the cotm.try. Sane of them, as will be noticed, are so Ilil.lch alike as to suggest a cormon origin. In sare cases I have able give the year of been to collection , but this is no indication of the date of position. Variations of prayers of , presumably , cc:mnon origin (cf . n. 5) are be fotm.d in places f ar apart. This would be explained by ascribing their to to spread wandering bards or even priests in troubled times . One would then have to allCM sane time for the prayer becx:me popular. It is to
37 THE GRACE BEFORE AND AFTER MEALS AS FOUND IN THE IRISH TRADITION Many ccm:nunities have found great dif f iculty in f inding suitable prayers f or use before and af ter meals. This prompted me to research nong the Irish traditional prayers to see if same suitable ones might be found . The following collection is the result. It will be seen that they cane f rom many parts of Ireland; and for Arrerican readers I have included a map showing the areas f rom which the prayers came in relation to sare of the larger centers of population. The prayers contain many ideas whidl even in this era of modern theolo;nr are relevant. We f ind great emphasis placed on fellowship or ccmnunity. Another ve:ry cx::mron note is that of thanks , not only f or the present, but also for all the good things which we have ever received and f or which we have not given thanks. We also see in these prayers how our people realized the necessity of bodily f ood if we are to live a spiritual life. Indeed, it ITil.lst be stressed that the lif e of the soul is closely linked with that of the body in the minds of the old people of Ireland. It is well nigh impossible to put a date on these prayers. They are , as I have said, prayers of the people, were widely used, and are to be f ound all over the cotm.try. Sane of them, as will be noticed, are so Ilil.lch alike as to suggest a cormon origin. In sare cases I have been able to give the year of collection , but this is no indication of the date of position. Variations of prayers of , presumably , cc:mnon origin (cf . n. 5) are to be fotm.d in places f ar apart. This would be explained by ascribing their spread to wandering bards or even priests in troubled times . One would then have to allCM sane time for the prayer to becx:me popular. It is a-
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