Hymn | Proper 11 Year A | Genesis 28:10–19 | Psalm 139:1–12, 23–24 | Romans 8:12-25 | Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43

Where Shannon bears the dawn of God

1
Where Shannon bears the dawn of God
Past stones of Clonmacnoise,
The curlew wakes the valley mist
With low, lamenting voice.
Like Jacob roused from troubled sleep
Beside the ancient stream,
We find the Lord already near—
The One who shapes our dream.

2
You search us, Lord, as goldcrests move
Through ash and oaken shade;
You know our paths, our rising light,
Our steps before they’re made.
No darkness hides us from Your gaze,
No night can veil Your grace;
Your Spirit threads the Shannon reeds
And sanctifies this place.

3
Creation waits in longing, still
The otter slips through tide,
The salmon stirs the shadowed deep,
The mute swan seems to glide.
The earth awaits Your promised dawn,
The fields Your rising flame;
And we, Your children, long to stand
Renewed in Christ’s own name.

4
The wheat and tares grow side by side
Where Shannon meadows lie;
The lark ascends in fearless praise,
The hare goes leaping by.
Lord, keep us steadfast in Your truth
Till angels reap the land,
And gather in Your harvest bright
By Your discerning hand.

5
So guide us, Christ, as once You led
The monks of Clonmacnoise;
Through bog‑cotton and rushes pale
We lift our pilgrim voice.
Let Shannon’s tide bear forth Your peace,
Your mercy’s quiet flame,
And keep our lives in steadfast prayer
Made holy by Your name.

Reflection

When I sat down to weave these Sunday readings into the landscape of Clonmacnoise, I wanted to collapse the distance between the ancient biblical world and the immediate, breathing reality of the Irish Midlands. For me, the mists of the Shannon callows became the perfect canvas for Jacob’s fitful sleep in Genesis, reminding us that God is already present in our midst, even when we fail to notice. By filtering the searching gaze of Psalm 139 through the flitting of a goldcrest in the oak shade, I hoped to capture a deeply Celtic sense of the divine—the conviction that the Holy Spirit is intimately woven into the very reeds and rivers of our local landscape, sanctifying the specific places we inhabit.

If I were to play the notes and sing the words in Temple Connor, it would feel like a profound act of pilgrimage within those historic stone walls. Looking out at the surrounding meadows, the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares ceases to be a distant gospel story and becomes a living mirror of the world right outside our chapel doors. My hope is that this hymn serves as a bridge, linking our modern, searching voices directly to the ancient monks who once prayed on these very riverbanks. Ultimately, it is my personal prayer for steadfastness, asking that Christ’s peace might meet us in the quiet bogs and changing tides of our own lives, just as it has for generations before us.

Hymn information

First line: Where Shannon bears the dawn of God
Text: Michael McFarland Campbell
Metre: DCM
Tune: Kingsfold or Resignation
Scripture: Genesis 28:10–19 | Psalm 139:1–12, 23–24 | Romans 8:12-25 | Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43

© 2026 Michael McFarland Campbell. Permission granted for local church use with attribution. Not for commercial reproduction without permission.

An image inspired by the hynn can be seen at ReceivedLight.ie