Those suffering from the stressful side-effects of the Celtic Tiger economy are being offered the chance to become 21st-century hermits under a project unveiled today.
Five hermitages, or cillins, have been constructed at Glendalough, Co Wicklow, the scenic site of a former monastery, at a cost of £300,000.
The Cillin/Hermitage Retreat Centre, blessed today by Cardinal Desmond Connell, Archbishop of Dublin, aims to rekindle a practice that died out at Glendalough 400 years ago when the original hermitages were destroyed.
Mr Seamus Brennan TD, chairman of the Millennium Committee that donated more than 80 per cent of the cost of the project, said the cillins are a refuge for anyone wishing to escape the pressures of modern living.
He said: "Glendalough is now in its third millennia as a site of Christian pilgrimage, so how better to recognise its continuing influence and attraction worldwide than by reviving the tradition of hermitages?
"St Kevin, who founded Glendalough in the 6th Century AD, was a hermit at heart and he lived a life characterised by a deep love of solitude. We now live in an age of instant communication, endless noise and frantic lifestyles.
The single-accommodation hermitages have been built in the grounds of St Kevin's Church to "a level of comfort without luxury" and are open to bookings.
Each contains a bedroom, bathroom and small kitchen, with heat provided by an open fire supplemented - in a concession to modern expectations of comfort - by a storage heater.Residents are requested not to bring mobile phones, laptop computers or radios.
Fr Sean O'Toole, of St Kevin's Church, said: "The past 20 years has seen a growing number of people wanting guidance and companionship on their spiritual journey.
"I believe in this age of new technology that has again propelled Ireland into the creative forefront, Glendalough's mysticism and spiritual energy have a powerful role to play."
PA