St. Mac Dara’s Island[1]
Cruach na Cara[2]
St. Macdara's Island is located in Ireland
St. Macdara's Island
Location within Ireland
Monastery information
Established6th century AD
Disestablishedbefore 1100
DioceseTuam
People
Founder(s)Macdara
Architecture
Statusruined
StyleCeltic
Site
LocationCarna, County Galway, Ireland
Coordinates53°18′16″N 9°55′02″W / 53.304424°N 9.917318°W / 53.304424; -9.917318
Public accessyes
Official nameSt. Mac Dara’s Island
Reference no.242[3]

St. Macdara's Island (officially St. Mac Dara’s Island)[4] is a small island on which stands a medieval Christian monastery and National Monument. It is located off the coast of County Galway, Ireland.[5][6] It is often traditionally called St. Macdara’s Island.

Location

St. Macdara's Island is located on a 60-acre (24.5 ha) granite mountain island off the coast of Connemara, 6 km (3.7 mi) west-southwest of Carna.[7][8]

History

Saint Sinach Macdara, patron saint of seafarers, is believed to have built a wooden church on the island in the sixth century.[9] It was replaced by the present stone building in the 10th century.[10] The roof stones were cut to mimic wood shingles.[11]

Local fishermen traditionally dipped their sails three times while passing the island.[12]

A wooden statue of the saint was paid special reverence by locals; in an act of iconoclasm the Archbishop of Tuam ordered it buried.[13]

Every 16 July, local people make a pilgrimage to the island for a mass and blessing of boats (including the famous Galway hookers).[14] Devotions were also formerly held on 28 September.[15]

On Saturday, July 16, hundreds of pilgrims will cram onto a flotilla of currachs, pleasure craft and fishing boats at the several inlets and piers of Mace Head in Connemara to cross about 2 km of sea to honour the memory of a sixth-century saint. Not a lot is known about St Macdara but his legacy has lasted more than 1,500 years from when he chose this barren island to establish his church.

There is no pier on the island.[16] Nine people drowned on a pilgrimage to the island in a storm in 1907.[17] The roof on the island's church was restored in 1977. In addition to the church, there are three penitential stations consisting of cross slabs, and a holy well. There are also the ruins of a much later bothy around which animals were once raised. The island's church featured on the 29 pence stamp in the 1980s.[18]

Description

A stone church or oratory, probably a shrine for Macdara's remains. There are several cross slabs and an enclosure.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta)Order 2004 which prescribes the official, legal name of the island in English and Irish
  2. ↑ "Bunachar Logainmneacha na hÉireann". Logainm.ie.
  3. ↑ "National Monuments of County Galway in State Care" (PDF). heritageireland.ie. National Monument Service. p. 8. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  4. ↑ Placenames (Ceantair Ghaeltachta)Order 2004 which prescribes the official, legal name of the island in English and Irish
  5. ↑ Walsh, David (29 March 2018). Oileain: A Guide to the Irish Islands. Pesda Press. ISBN 9780953195695 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ Robinson, Tim (19 June 2007). Connemara: Listening to the Wind. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141900711 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ Tibus, Website design and development by. "Oops the page no longer exists - Discover Ireland" (PDF). www.discoverireland.ie.
  8. ↑ "Explanation to Accompany Sheets 1-". H.M. Stationery Office. 29 March 1871 – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ "Saint Mac Dara's Island R.A.S. Macalister". www.aislingmagazine.com.
  10. ↑ "St macdara's island, County Galway". www.earlychristianireland.net.
  11. ↑ Moody, Theodore William; Martin, Francis X.; Byrne, Francis John; Cosgrove, Art (29 March 1976). A New History of Ireland: Prehistoric and early Ireland. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198217374 – via Google Books.
  12. ↑ Day, Catharina (29 March 2018). Ireland. New Holland Publishers. ISBN 9781860113277 – via Google Books.
  13. ↑ Kingshill, Sophia; Westwood, The Estate of Jennifer (28 June 2012). The Fabled Coast: Legends & traditions from around the shores of Britain & Ireland. Random House. ISBN 9781409038450 – via Google Books.
  14. ↑ Kilcoyne, Clodagh. "Seafarers' pilgrimage to MacDara's Island". The Wider Image.
  15. ↑ Harbison, Peter (1 April 1995). Pilgrimage in Ireland: The Monuments and the People. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815603122 – via Google Books.
  16. ↑ Irish Examiner Islands of Ireland: If you ever posted a letter in the 1980s you'll be familiar with Macdara's Island, by Dan MacCarthy, 8 July 2022
  17. ↑ Irish Examiner Islands of Ireland: If you ever posted a letter in the 1980s you'll be familiar with Macdara's Island, by Dan MacCarthy, 8 July 2022
  18. ↑ Irish Examiner Islands of Ireland: If you ever posted a letter in the 1980s you'll be familiar with Macdara's Island, by Dan MacCarthy, 8 July 2022
  19. ↑ "Pilgrimage to the Connemara coast - Independent.ie".
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