What makes a tradition a tradition? How and when do we pass from routine to ritual, and ritual to sacred rite? How do we decide what it kept, what is left behind, and what must be destroyed for the good of the future? Ruth Gilligan knows, but she will not give us any easy answers. Instead, she gives us snapshots; a literal photograph sets us in motion, but glimpses into the life of “modern Ireland” connect the pieces by stringing one red knot to another. […]
“She wondered, for the thousandth time, who got to decide one tradition was right and another was wrong.”
The Butchers' Blessing by Ruth Gilligan
