Three steps forward, two steps back: the Echternach Hopping Procession's ties to Ireland and the UK, 25/05/2024

The Echternach Hopping Procession, on the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage list, celebrates the life of St. Willibrord. On today's show, Lisa is joined by guests from Ireland, the UK and Luxembourg — to discuss the life of St. Willibrord via his links with these three countries.

The Echternach Hopping Procession, on the UNESCO Intangible World Heritage list, celebrates the life of St. Willibrord. On today's show, Lisa is joined by guests from Ireland, the UK and Luxembourg — to discuss the life of St. Willibrord via his links with these three countries.

Despite the 'high humidity', as Raoul Scholtes put it, there was another exceptional turnout for this year's Sprangpressessioun (or 'Hopping Procession') in Echternach, which pays homage to Saint Willibrord. This Anglo-Saxon Benedictine monk is revered as the founder of Echternach Abbey and every year is honoured for his gift of curing illness.

Ambassador Jean McDonald, Ambassador of Ireland to Luxembourg, hosted a delegation from County Carlow, celebrating the links between Saint Willibrord and Carlow. Councillor Andrea Dalton and Dermot Mulligan, Curator of the Carlow Museum, also joined in studio to discuss the deepening re-connections between Luxembourg and Carlow through their shared history with Saint Willibrord.

HE Fleur Thomas, British Ambassador to Luxembourg, hosted HE Ambassador Christopher Trott, Britain's Ambassador to the Holy See, for their very first Sprangpressessioun experience. Providing a bit of background into St. Willibrord's ancestry — Ambassador Trott detailed the saint's Northumbrian origins, before his travels brought him to Ireland, the Netherlands and then Luxembourg.

Ambassador Trott also talks about his work as a diplomat in the Vatican, and the immense 'intelligence network' the Vatican has globally through priests on the ground, often in places where diplomats cannot visit or live.

Patrick Dondelinger, Head of Studies for Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, talks about the importance of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage label for the Hopping Procession, and what this means for one who experiences the 'rite'.

Raoul Scholtes — a member of the procession's organisational committee and Vice-president of the Willibrodusbauveräin (Willibrod building society) organisation responsible for the procession — ends with a call for more volunteers! Help is always welcome, and indeed it would also be valuable to make a couple of positions professional (i.e. paid).

Read here for even more details on the history of Luxembourg's Echternach Hopping Procession.