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Croagh Patrick

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Croagh Patrick
Cruach Phádraig
'The Reek'
Highest point
Elevation 764 m (2,507 ft)
Prominence 639 m (2,096 ft)
Listing P600, Marilyn, Hewitt
Coordinates 53°45′34″N 9°39′30″W / 53.7595°N 9.6584°W
Naming
English translation (Saint) Patrick's stack
Language of name Irish
Geography
Croagh Patrick
Location within Ireland
Location County Mayo, Ireland
OSI/OSNI grid L906802
Topo map OSi Discovery 30, 31, 37 or 38
Climbing
Easiest route Hike

Croagh Patrick (Irish: Cruach Phádraig, meaning '(Saint) Patrick's stack'),[1] nicknamed 'the Reek',[1] is a mountain with a height of 764 m (2,507 ft) and an important site of pilgrimage in County Mayo, Ireland. The mountain has a pyramid-shaped peak and overlooks Clew Bay, rising above the village of Murrisk, several kilometres from Westport.

It has long been seen as a holy mountain. It was the focus of a prehistoric ritual landscape, and later became associated with Saint Patrick, who is said to have spent forty days fasting on the summit.[2] There has been a church on the summit since the 5th century; the current church dates to the early 20th century. Croagh Patrick is climbed by thousands of pilgrims every year on Reek Sunday, the last Sunday in July, a custom which goes back to at least the Middle Ages.

Croagh Patrick is the fourth-highest mountain in the province of Connacht on the P600 listing after Mweelrea, Nephin and Barrclashcame. It is part of a longer east–west ridge; the lower westernmost peak is named Ben Goram.

Name

'Croagh Patrick' comes from the Irish Cruach Phádraig meaning "(Saint) Patrick's stack".[1] It is known locally as "the Reek", a Hiberno-English word for a "rick" or "stack".[3] Previously it was known as Cruachán Aigle or Cruach Aigle, being mentioned by that name in medieval sources such as Cath Maige Tuired,[4] Buile Shuibhne,[5] The Metrical Dindshenchas,[6] and the Annals of Ulster entry for the year 1113.[7] Cruachán is simply a diminutive of cruach meaning "stack" or "peak". Aigle was an old name for the area.[1] The Dindsenchas (lore of places) says that Aigle was a prince of Connacht who was slain by his uncle Cromderg in revenge for his slaying of a woman under Cromderg's care.[8] It is also suggested that Aigle is an alternative form of aicil, "eagle".[9]

The Marquess of Sligo, whose seat was nearby Westport House, bears the titles Baron Mount Eagle and Earl of Altamont ("high mount"), both deriving from Croagh Patrick.[10]

Historical significance

Perhaps because of its prominence, its pyramidal quartzite peak, and the legends associated with it, Croagh Patrick has long been seen as a holy mountain.[11]

Archaeologist Christiaan Corlett writes that the large number of prehistoric monuments surrounding and oriented towards Croagh Patrick "suggests that the mountain has been a local spiritual inspiration since at least the Neolithic, and during the Bronze Age became the focus of an extensive ritual landscape".[12]

A short distance east of the mountain lies the Boheh Stone, an outcrop covered with ancient rock art. There are more than 260 carvings, making it one of the most detailed pieces of ancient rock art in Ireland, and one of only two in the province of Connacht. In 1987 it was rediscovered that, from the Boheh stone, the setting sun appears to roll down the slope of Croagh Patrick in late April and late August. It is believed the stone was chosen because of this natural phenomenon.[13] A stone row at Killadangan is aligned with a niche in the mountain where the sun sets on the winter solstice.[14]

Archaeological surveying found remains of an enclosure encircling the mountaintop and dozens of circular huts abutting it, which showed evidence of Bronze Age date.[15]

Tírechán, a native of Connacht, wrote in the 7th century that Saint Patrick spent forty days on the mountain, like Moses on Mount Sinai. The 9th century Bethu Phátraic says that Patrick was harassed by a flock of black demonic birds while on the peak, and he banished them into the hollow of Lugnademon ("hollow of the demons") by ringing his bell. Patrick ended his fast when God gave him the right to judge all the Irish at the Last Judgement, and agreed to spare the land from the final desolation.[16][17] A later legend tells how Patrick was tormented by a demonic female serpent named Corra or Caorthannach. Patrick is said to have banished the serpent into Lough Na Corra below the mountain, or into a hollow from which the lake burst forth.[18]

Pilgrimage

Archaeologists found that there had been a stone chapel or oratory on the summit since the 5th century.[19] There is reference to a "Teampall Phádraig" (Patrick's Temple) from AD 824, when the Archbishops of Armagh and Tuam disagreed as to who had jurisdiction on the site.[20] A small modern chapel was built on the summit and dedicated on 20 July 1905.

On the last Sunday in July, thousands of pilgrims climb Croagh Patrick in honour of Saint Patrick, and masses are held at the summit chapel. Some pilgrims climb the mountain barefoot, as an act of penance.[21] Traditionally, pilgrims would perform 'rounding rituals', in which they pray while walking sunwise around features on the mountain. Among these are a group of three ancient cairns known as Reilig Mhuire (Mary's graveyard),[22] which are likely Bronze Age burial cairns.[23]

Folklorist Máire MacNeill conjectured that the pilgrimage pre-dates Christianity and was originally a ritual associated with the festival of Lughnasadh.[24]

Today, most pilgrims climb Croagh Patrick from the direction of Murrisk Abbey to the north. Originally, most pilgrims climbed the mountain from the east, following the Togher Patrick (Tochár Phádraig) pilgrim path from Ballintubber Abbey. This route is dotted with prehistoric monuments, including the Boheh stone. Until 1970, it was traditional for pilgrims to climb the mountain after sunset. It is possible that this came from a pre-historic tradition of climbing the mountain after viewing the 'rolling sun' phenomenon.[25] The Tochár Phádraig may have originally been the main route from Cruachan (seat of the Kings of Connacht) to Cruachan Aigle, the original name of Croagh Patrick.[26] The Tochar Phadraig was revived and reopened as a cross-country pilgrimage tourist trail by Pilgrim Paths of Ireland; the 30-kilometre route takes about ten hours.[26]

Local people and organisations point out that the large number of climbers – as many as 40,000 per year – have damaged the mountain by causing erosion which makes the climb more dangerous.[27]

Local stakeholders have made efforts to combat the erosion caused by foot traffic through the creation of a stone path up the mountain, composed of stone from Croagh Patrick and assembled in a dry stone manner.[28]

Gold discovery

A seam of gold was discovered in the core of the mountain in the 1980s. Due to local resistance by the Mayo Environmental Group, headed by Paddy Hopkins, Mayo County Council decided not to allow mining on Croagh Patrick.[29] The name of the Owenwee River (Abhainn Bhuí, yellow river) on the south of the mountain may indicate an ancient awareness of gold deposits in the area and gold panning in the river.[30]

See also

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

A mountain looking out on the Atlantic ocean from the southern shore of Clew Bay, in the County Mayo, and called "the Sinai of Ireland." In pagan times it was known as Cruachan Aigli. It rises in a perfect cone to a height of 2510 feet. The account given below is taken from sources that post-date the saint's death by three hundred years. There are, however, good reasons to believe that the traditions they embody are genuine, St. Patrick was careworn and fatigued when he came to this remote part of the country. He longed to retire for a while to refresh his soul in solitude, and for that purpose on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday in the year 441, he betook himself to the mountain top. Here he spent the days of Lent, chastising his body with fasts, pouring out his heart to God, and entreating Him with prolonged importunity and with tears that the Faith may not fail in the land of Erin. The "Book of Armagh mentions that God summoned all the saints of Erin, past, present and future, to appear before their father in the Faith to comfort him with a vision of the teeming harvest his labours would produce, and to join him in blessing their kinsmen and their country. The "Tripartite Life" relates that when Patrick was on Cruachan Aigli in 441, word was brought to him that a new pope ruled the Church in Rome. The new pope was St. Leo the Great, who was consecrated on the 29th of September, 440. Patrick, as soon as he heard it, dispatched one of his disciples named Munis to bear his filial homage to the Vicar of Christ, to render an account of his labours and his teaching, and to beg a blessing for the infant church in Ireland. The 'Annals of Clonmacnoise" relate that Munis came back from Rome bearing sacred relics which the pope had given him for the altars that Patrick was erecting every where through the country. 'I'he same event is briefly referred to in tile "Annals of Ulster", under date of 441: "Leo ordained forty-second bishop of the Church of Rome; and Patrick the bishop was approved in the Catholic Faith". It adds a special glory to Croagh Patrick that its first tribute of homage from the Irish Church to the Chair of Peter was sent from its hoary summit. From that sacred spot on Holy Saturday, Patrick with outstretched hands solemnly blessed the men of Erin that they might cling to the Faith, and the land of Erin that no poisonous reptile might infest it. Then, refreshed with divine grace and comforted with the assurance that his labours would fructify forever, he came down from the mountain to celebrate Easter with the little flock he had left at Aughagower.

From the days of the saint himself pilgrims began to do penance oil his holy mountain. References to them are found in many pages of the annals of the country. It is recorded that in the year 1113, on the night of tile 17th of March, during a thunderstorm, thirty of the pilgrims perished on the summit. The "Annals of Boyle" relate that Hugh O'Connor, King of Connaught, who came to the throne in the year 1225, cut off the hands and the feet of an outlaw who dared to molest a pilgrim on his way to Croagh Patrick. The following document of Eugene IV, dated. 28 September, 1432, shows how this ancient pilgrimage was recognized and honored in Rome. "A relaxation of two years and two quarantines of enjoined penance, under the usual conditions, to those penitents who visit and give alms for the repair of the chapel of St. Patrick, on the mountain which is called Croagh Patrick whither resorts a great multitude of persons to venerate St. Patrick the Sunday before the feast of St. Peter's Chains" (Calendar etc., of Papal Registers, Vol. IV). From St. Patrick's own time there had been some sort of a little chapel on the summit.

The "Tripartite Life" relates that, the apostle himself celebrated Mass on the mountain, from which we infer that he had an altar and a place to shelter it. For several centuries the Archbishops of Armagh laid claim to the chapel on the grounds that it was founded by St. Patrick and that they were his successors; but the Archbishops of Tuam contended that it belonged to their jurisdiction. Finally, Pope Honorius III On the 30th of July, 1216 assigned it to the Archbishop of Tuam (Calendar Pap. Reg., Vol. 1). But in penal times when Murrisk Abbey at the mountain's base was dismantled, the venerable relic on the summit was demolished. Still the pilgrims never ceased to go there. It was not, however, till 1905 that the chapel on the heights was rebuilt, and then on the 30th of July, Archbishop Healy dedicated it to St. Patrick in the presence of many pilgrims. The day of annual pilgrimage from time immemorial had been the last Sunday in July. On that day about twenty Masses are celebrated within the little chapel while often there have been more than 20,000 persons kneeling without.

HEALY, "The Life and Writings of St. Patrick" (Dublin, 1905); BURY, "St. Patrick, His Place in History" (London, 1905); MORBURY, "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland" (London, 1900); FLEMING, "Life of St. Patrick" (London, 1905); THURSTON, in "The Month" (Nov., 1905); MORAN in "The Irish Theological Quarterly" (April, 1907).

Michael MacDonald.

References

  1. Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Back to citation occurrence 1.2 Back to citation occurrence 1.3 Cruach Phádraig/Croagh Patrick. Placenames Database of Ireland.
  2. Back to citation Meehan, Cary (2004). Sacred Ireland. Somerset: Gothic Image Publications. p. 656. ISBN 0 906362 43 1.
  3. Back to citation New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, CD edition 1997, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1973, 1993, 1996.
  4. Back to citation CELT: The Second Battle of Moytura (translation) - Irish
  5. Back to citation CELT: Buile Shuibhne (translation) - Irish (Cruachán Oighle)
  6. Back to citation CELT: The Metrical Dindshenchas, 88 Cruachán Aigle (translation) - Irish
  7. Back to citation CELT: Annals of Ulster 1113 (translation) - Irish
  8. Back to citation Monaghan, Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Infobase Publishing, 2014. p.7
  9. Back to citation "Croagh Patrick, then and now". Mayo Advertiser, 9 September 2016.
  10. Back to citation George Edward Cokayne ed. Vicary Gibbs, The Complete Peerage, volume I (1910) p. 113.
  11. Back to citation Claffey, Patrick. "A holy mountain: Croagh Patrick in myth, prehistory and history". The Irish Times, 18 November 2016.
  12. Back to citation Corlett, Christiaan. "The Prehistoric Ritual Landscape of Croagh Patrick, Co Mayo". The Journal of Irish Archaeology, Vol. 9. Wordwell, 1998. pp.9–10
  13. Back to citation Corlett, p.12
  14. Back to citation Corlett, p.14
  15. Back to citation "Scientific evidence suggests Patrick climbed mountain". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  16. Back to citation Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí (1991). Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition. Prentice Hall Press. p. 358.
  17. Back to citation Catholic Encyclopedia
  18. Back to citation Corlett, p.19
  19. Back to citation McDonald, Michael. "Croagh Patrick." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 21 February 2014
  20. Back to citation Haggerty, Bridget. "He Came To Mock - But Stayed to Pray", Irish Culture and Customs
  21. Back to citation "The History of Croagh Patrick from the Croagh Patrick Visitor Centre - Teach na Miasa". www.croagh-patrick.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  22. Back to citation Carroll, Michael. Irish Pilgrimage: Holy Wells and Popular Catholic Devotion. JHU Press, 1999. p.38
  23. Back to citation Corlett, p.11
  24. Back to citation Harbison, Peter. Pilgrimage in Ireland: The Monuments and the People. Syracuse University Press, 1995. p.70; Monaghan, Patricia. The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Infobase Publishing, 2014. p.104; MacNeill, M (1962). The Festival of Lughnasa. A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of the Harvest. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  25. Back to citation Corlett, p.17
  26. Back to citation occurrence 26.0 Back to citation occurrence 26.1 "Tóchar Phádraig Pilgrim Passport". Pilgrim Paths of Ireland. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  27. Back to citation Kieran Cooke (11 October 2015). "The holy mountain that's become too popular". BBC News. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  28. Back to citation Patsy McGarry (31 March 2024). "ThePathway to top of Croagh Patrick almost complete after more than three years of work". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  29. Back to citation "Obituary Paddy Hopkins". The Mayo News. 30 July 2013. Archived from the original on 8 March 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  30. Back to citation Corlett, p.18

Bibliography

  • Harry Hughes (2010). Croagh Patrick. A Place of Pilgrimage. A Place of Beauty. O'Brien Press. ISBN 9781847171986.
  • Leo Morahan (2001). Croagh Patrick, Co. Mayo: archaeology, landscape and people. Westport: Croagh Patrick Archaeological Committee. ISBN 0-9536086-3-8.
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