Saint Patrick | Rothar Routes

Posts tagged ‘Saint Patrick’

6 Years a Slave….

A pilgrimage to Slemish Mountain

The story of Saint Patrick, Ireland’s Patron Saint, has been handed down to us over the centuries. It’s a great story in which it is hard to separate fact from fiction as there are scant contemporaneous records of his life in existence. I have some sympathy for poor Bishop Palladius who was sent here by Pope Celestine to spread the Gospel – before Patrick, but he gets little credit!

Patrick though wrote what must be a rare autobiography of an Irish Saint, his Confessio or Confession, which is his life story, though it lacks names and places, is an original source. And we can thank our own St Fiac, of Sleaty, (I often cycle past his cross in Sleaty graveyard, near Knockbeg College) who wrote his hymn on the Life of St Patrick:

He was six years in slavery;

Human food he ate it not.

Cothraige he was called,

for as slave he served four families.

Victor said to Milcho’s slave:

“Go thoust over the sea”:

He placed his foot upon the ‘leac’ (stone):

It’s trace remains, it does not wear away.
Life of St Patrick by St Fiac of Sleaty.

It’s pretty clear he was captured and brought to Ireland and the story is he spent 6 years as a slave of Milchú on Slemish Mountain (or Sliabh Mish) tending to flocks of sheep. This was one of those stories we learned in primary school; I was always fascinated by his time in slavery and so this was a place I have long intended visiting, and what better day to do it than on 17th March, the Feast Day of our National Saint. Slemish is located just outside Ballymena in County Antrim, a nice little drive! My route up took me past two very important sites central to the Patrick story – the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Slane. Had I more time I would have stopped off but it’s 293 kms, door to door, to the foot of Slemish! I’ve been on both these famed hills in the past and the story of the conversion of the High King of ireland is central to the conversion of Ireland to Christianity.

But after I reached Ireland I used to pasture the flock each day and I used to pray many times a day. More and more did the love of God, and my fear of him and faith increase, and my spirit was moved so that in a day I said from one up to a hundred prayers, and in the night a like number; besides I used wake up before daylight to pray in the snow, in icy coldness, in rain, and I used feel neither ill nor any slothfulness, because, as I now see, the Spirit was burning in me at that time.

And it was there of course that one night in my sleep I heard a voice to me: ‘You do well to fast: soon you will depart for your home country.’ And again, a very short time later, there was a voice prophesying: ‘Behold, your ship is ready.’ And it was not close by, as it happened, two hundred miles away, where I had never been or known any person. And shortly thereafter I turned about and fled from the man with whom I had been for six years, and I came, by the power of God who directed my route to advantage (and I was afraid of nothing), until I reached he ship.
Saint Patrick’s words form his Confession.

He was out of there!

I thought there might be a few people walking the route to the top and it was shock to see Police bollards along the narrow local roads to prevent parking. There was a Park and Ride system in place from the village of Broughshane, about 7kms away. The mini buses were ferrying people all day long from 9am to the base of the mountain and they came from all over the north. I met quite a few from Derry and Tyrone including the father of Paul Wilson, who won an All Ireland Club medal all of 21 years ago with Ballinderry as an attacking half back. It was great to see families of Polish and Ukrainians, who made the hard trek up to the cross on the mountain top. And not a sign of a Far right protestor making the pilgrimage…

Hands and Knees Job!

At just 437 metres high, technically this is not a mountain, but it is a tough little nut to crack! The path is very very steep – 29% gradient at one point. Underfoot the ground is extremely wet and slippy and there are lots of protruding sharp rocks to provide added danger. It’s not a place to go in runners – as many did today! I found this to be one of the toughest short rambles I’ve done in a long time and to see little kids scrambling past me was a little hard to take!

Start by taking the steps and after that pick your own path!

I’m not a fan of what St Patricks Day has become. Today was much more enjoyable for me than a lot of the paddy whackery we see typically associated with our celebrations of being Irish. I like the outdoors, solitude, visiting interesting places, heritage and history and today had all of that.

Saint Patrick is not the exclusive preserve of Catholics and Slemish of course is located in the ‘Bible Belt’ of the North. I got a lot of leaflets and pamphlets handed to me on my finishing the climb from different groups of evangelists. I’m not sure if they all work together or are separate distinct groupings.

Family group reach the New Cross on top of Slemish

I mentioned earlier that a Park and Ride system operated out of Broughshane. (I had come through Ballyclare to the start point). After I was directed there by two very helpful PSNI officers I saw a few people with their Orange sashes and bandsmen outfits. I thought it was a bit strange that the Orange order were taking part in the celebrations! It was only when I got home that I read an online article in the Irish News about disruption caused to pilgrims by an Orange March through the village which created huge delays for the pilgrim buses heading to Slemish. Luckily I missed all that. Somethings never change.

Link to Irish News Article:

Orange Order parade in Broughshane causes upset and delays

Sunday Miscellany

There’s nothing I enjoy more than leaving early on a Sunday morning and heading cross country for a football match in the afternoon. Today it was for the battle of the wee counties, the 2nd smallest, Carlow v the smallest, Louth as I travelled to support Rathvilly taking on Naomh Máirtin in the Leinster Club SFC first round. Unfortunately the game came too soon for Rathvilly, who had only won the Carlow Championship last Sunday and then suffered the invisible arrows of misfortune, inflicted on some of their players by Covid.

I often recall a story my father told me many years ago about the great Grange Gael, Kevin McNally. Kevin had developed a tradition of travelling to the Connacht Football Final with his sheepdog and climbing Croagh Patrick in the morning before heading into Castlebar for the Final and then driving home. One man and his faithful dog.

Now that I’ve a bit more spare time I’ve resumed my own practice of the past and like to take off early, listening to Radio One as I head to a venue in any of the provinces. Leaving early allows me to ramble a bit and take in a sight or two that talks to us today of our ancient past. North Leinster hasn’t featured on my cycle journeys so far but I’m looking forward to fixing that in the coming years and the Táin Trail beckons at some stage.

The West Cross at Monasterboice with the Round Tower behind.

Didn’t realise until I arrived in Monasterboice that this was the home of the Naomh Martín Club! It’s just off the motorway and if you find yourself heading north it’s well worth a visit. There are two of the finest examples of High Crosses in the country here. These crosses were the Facebook of their time! The carvings are still superb despite their age – these crosses are from the 10th Century and the iconography depicts various scenes from the Bible and were story books of the people. The West Cross is the tallest High Cross in Ireland.

This is one of the great treasures of Europe and as you can see the scenes are almost as clear today as when they were carved. There’s a storyboard nearby that explains the various scenes. You can only look in awe at the craftsmanship and imagine a scene where monks explained the Gospels to the gathered believers.

Close by is another very important Christian ruin, Mellifont Abbey which I visited on the way home.

This was the first Cistercian Abbey in Ireland and was built by St Malachy of Armagh in the 12th Century. He had visited Clairvaux in France while on his way to Rome and asked Bernard to teach some of his followers the Cistercian monastic way of life. He returned to Ireland with his followers and with some French monks and built the Abbey which became the ‘motherhouse’ of the Cistercians in Ireland. It thrived until Henry VII suppressed the monasteries in 1539.

Many is the time I’ve driven through Slane but never seemed to have the time to stop off and visit the famed Hill of Slane. Today was a perfect day to rectify that. The air was crisp, the sky was blue and it was lovely to make the short walk up to the top of the Hill, one of Ireland’s most mystical places, stretching back in the mists of time to the ancient Firbolgs but now forever associated with Saint Patrick. This is where he lit the Paschal fire bringing Christianity to Ireland defying the pagan King, Laoghaire on the nearby Hill of Tara.

Long before Patrick arrives on the Hill, the Fir Blog King, Sláine, was buried here underneath the mound which sits on the very pinnacle of the hill. There is a great sense of mysticism attached to the Boyne Valley and there are so many great sites to visit with Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth and Loughcrew all nearby. It feels like the centre point of our national identity.

The sun was setting at this stage and time for exploring over for today. Certainly made for an enjoyable day, even if the match did not go to plan!

Máméan Part 11

Having walked Máméan on Saturday last, I got engrossed in reading Christopher Somerville’s ‘Walking in Ireland’ (buy it if you don’t already have it!) earlier this evening. I then looked up his website to see had he covered this magical walk at any stage from his great series in the Irish Independent. He did of course, back in 2009 and below is the beautiful sketch map of the walk and the highlights of the route:

‘I always felt close to Máméan,’ observed Fr. Micheál McGreal down the crackly phone line from Mayo. ‘My grandparents had their sheep on Binn Mhairg, and I’d spend my summer holidays with them as a child in the ‘30s and ‘40s. So I always loved that place.’

I’d called Fr. McGreal as soon as I’d got home from Connemara after walking over Máméan, the Pass of the Birds. Who wouldn’t be enthused to bursting by this peach of an expedition through the wild and lovely Maumturk Mountains? It was my walking companion on the day, Tom Fitzgerald – a Kerryman by birth, but a Co. Galway resident these 30 years – who told me, as we climbed the stony path to the pass, of the priest and his revival of a famous, perhaps infamous, pilgrimage.

The 12 Bens of Connemara stood high and handsome behind us across the Inagh Valley, Bencorr in front, with Beanna Beola and Benbaun peeping over her shoulders. Ahead the slopes of Binn Mhór and Binn Mhairg cradled the rising path, their quartzite rock now glinting dully as cloud shadows brushed through, now gleaming dazzlingly as sunlight struck across. Up at the pass stood a tiny chapel, an altar and the cave-like recess called St Patrick’s Bed. A statue of the saint brooded over the path, a sheep at his heels. Had the good shepherd Patrick once walked these slopes, blessed the holy well nearby and slept in the cave? Many down the centuries thought and felt that he had, and they forged a pilgrim path to the pass with its breathtaking views over the Inagh and Maam valleys.

Three or four decades ago, as Tom Fitzgerald told the story, the pilgrimage had all but died out, partly owing to the hostility of the clergy towards the pilgrims’ indulgence in poitín, partly to competition from Reek Sunday – the Máméan pilgrimage shared the last Sunday in July with the hugely popular gathering at Croagh Patrick only 30 miles away. Then Fr. McGreal took a hand, as he himself recounts: ‘I had a youth organisation camp up there one day, a terrible wet day. I said Mass under an umbrella, and thought to myself: This could go on from here! So I got formal permission to say another Mass up there. Afterwards the people pushed a whole lot of money over the rock at me – I didn’t want it, but they insisted. So we built an altar with it. I wanted to put a strong Christian message on the place, without interfering with all the pre-Christian wells and stones and the other sacred sites there.’

The other component parts of the site followed over the years: Stations of the Cross, a small chapel, the statue of St Patrick with the sheep, stained glass windows for the chapel, all built or contributed by local people. Wandering round the Stations and the penitential beds of pebbles, dipping at the holy well, savouring the mighty rushing wind and the never-ending Connemara march of pelting showers, sunbursts and rainbows, one catches the power and pull of this high place.

Tom and I upped anchors eventually and went on down the northern side of the pass, with one of Tom’s extra special home-made blackberry and apple pies the promised prize at the end of the walk. It was a magically beautiful descent with the Maam Valley stretched out at our feet, and a farmer and his dogs gathering sheep on the green slopes of Binn Mhairg as young Micheál McGreal helped his grandfather do some seventy years ago.

‘As long as I am a priest,’ says Fr. McGreal, with quiet determination, ‘I’ll say Mass at Máméan once a year. It’s a remarkable experience. Nearly a thousand people can be up there. I like it when they pray in total silence – but you have to be very tolerant of the way people worship their God! When they are all quiet, it’s beautiful, even in the wind, the fog and mist – just beautiful.’

WAY TO GO

MAP: OS of Ireland 1:50,000 Discovery 37, 38, 44; downloadable map/instructions at http://www.discoverireland.ie/walking.

TRAVEL:
Road: A 2-car walk. Park one car at Keane’s pub, Maam Bridge (junction of R336 and 345); drive other car R336 to Maam Cross, N59 towards Clifden. Entering Recess, just before bridge, right on country road (OS ref. L 873475; ‘Slí Chonamara, Máméan’ sign) for 2 miles to parking place at foot of Máméan (OS ref. 892495).

WALK DIRECTIONS: Follow yellow ‘walking man’ waymarks for 2½ miles up over Máméan pass and down to road (922519); ahead for 1¼ miles to Cur/An Chorr; right for 2 miles to R336; left to Keane’s pub.

LENGTH: 6 miles: allow 3-4 hours

GRADE: Moderate

CONDITIONS: Steady climb and descent on rough mountain path, then country roads

DON’T MISS … !
• views back toward the 12 Bens
• Tobar Phádraig at the pass
• views to your left, while descending, up Gleann Fhada to Barr Sliabh na Ráithe

REFRESHMENTS: Picnic at the pass

ACCOMMODATION: Rosleague Manor, Letterfrack (095-41101; http://www.rosleague.com) – very comfortable, stunningly located.

GUIDE BOOKS/LEAFLETS: Slí an Iarthair, the Western Way in Connemara by Joss Lynam, Justin May, Tim Robinson (Folding Landscapes)

HOLY DAYS AT MÁMÉAN: St Patrick’s Day (1.30 pm, Mass); Good Friday (3.00 pm, Stations of the Cross); 1st Sunday of August (3.00 pm, Mass)

INFORMATION: Walking tour operators, local walks including Discover Ireland’s National Loop Walks, walking festivals throughout Ireland: http://www.discoverireland.ie/walking; http://www.coillteoutdoors.ie

INFORMATION:
Tourist Office: Oughterard (091-552-808; http://www.discoverireland.ie/west)

csomerville@independent.ie

Máméan Pilgrim Path

Pilgrimages are never meant to be easy! Pilgrim sites are often located in remote and difficult places to access. Yesterday I visited the stunningly beautiful Máméan situated in a mountain pass in the Maamturk Mountains. Máméan (Pass of the Birds) is one of the those really ancient sites that stretch back into the mists of time. It certainly feels like that when you reach the Chapel.

The act of pilgrimage is back in vogue or certainly the major walking routes such as the Camino routes in Spain and the Via Francigena are; the reasons are many but for modern pilgrims religious reasons are less likely than those of self discovery, spiritual reasons and a sense of adventure.

Here in Ireland Croagh Patrick, Lough Derg and Knock Shrine are three long established and extremely popular pilgrimages. But there are many other lesser known places of pilgrimage which as Louise Nugent points out in her book, ‘Journeys of Faith’ a local pilgrimage reinforces the bonds of the local community and acts as a cohesive force.

Statue of St Patrick with Maam Valley in back ground

Today is Reek Sunday, when thousands normally flock to Croagh Patrick, Ireland’s Holy Mountain but due to Covid Reek Sunday has been cancelled. This site is also associated with Saint Patrick. There is a well close by the Chapel named after our patron saint. Patrick is reputed to have come up the Pass from Joyce country, down in Maam Valley, and to have blessed the lands of Connemara and converting it to Christianity.

The path across the mountain is much older and it can be tricky to traverse! It’s possible to experience four seasons weather up here in the space of a few minutes and there is plenty of water under foot.

Slippery under foot as water cascades downhill

The pilgrimage to Máméan fell into disrepute in the 19th century due due drunkeness and fighting, no doubt fuelled by the plentiful supply of locally made poitín! Many of these pattern days were closed down by the church during the 18th and 19th century but his allowed the purely religious aspect of the pilgrimage to survive and prosper (Peter Harbison, ‘Pilgrimage in Ireland’). Máméan was revived thanks to the great work of a local priest who family had sheep on the mountain, Fr Micheál Mac Gréil, and there are now three pilgrim dates on the local calendar – St Patrick’s Day, Good Friday and the first Sunday in August.

Statue of Saint Patrick created by Cliodhna Cussen in 1986

The site also features a mass rock which was used during the time of the Penal Laws, when it was forbidden to say mass in Ireland. There are also stones of the cross spread across the site.

Lot of water on slippery rocks on the way down. Caution required!

Whether you have an interest in pilgrimage or not, this is a pilgrim path worth visiting. The views are stunning in all directions and the route is part of the long distance walking route, The Western Way.

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Cycle routes & pilgrim journeys in Ireland and Europe …..

Posts tagged ‘Saint Patrick’

6 Years a Slave….

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Sunday Miscellany

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Máméan Part 11

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Máméan Pilgrim Path

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