Saint Macdara's Island
Cruach na Cara | |
 Annual pilgrimage at tenth century church on Macdara's Island | |
  Location within Ireland | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Established | 6th century AD |
| Disestablished | Before 1100 |
| Diocese | Tuam |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Macdara |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Ruined |
| Style | Celtic |
| Site | |
| Location | Carna, County Galway, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 53°18′16″N 9°55′02″W / 53.304424°N 9.917318°W |
| Public access | Yes |
| Official name | Saint Macdara's Island |
| Reference no. | 242[1] |
Saint Macdara's Island (Irish: Cruach na Cara)[2] is a small island off the coast of County Galway in Ireland on which stands a mediaeval Christian monastery and National Monument.[3][4]
Location[edit]
The 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.[5][6]
History[edit]
Saint Sinach Macdara, patron saint of seafarers, is believed to have built a wooden church on the island in the sixth century.[7] It was replaced by the present stone building in the 10th century.[8] The roof stones were cut to mimic wood shingles.[9]
Local fishermen traditionally dipped their sails three times while passing the island.[10]
A wooden statue of the saint was paid special reverence by locals; in an act of iconoclasm the Archbishop of Tuam ordered it buried.[11]
Every 16 July on Féile Mhic Dara (Feast of Macdara) local people make a pilgrimage to the island for a mass and blessing of boats (including the famous Galway hookers).[12][13][14]
There is no pier on the island. Nine people drowned on a pilgrimage to the island during a storm in 1907. 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.[12]
Description[edit]
A stone church or oratory, probably a shrine for Macdara's remains. There are several cross slabs and an enclosure.[15]
Postage stamps[edit]
The Irish postal service, An Post, released a series of definitive stamps between 1982 and 1986 depicting the tenth century Macdara's Church on the island. The five stamps were as follows:[12][16][17]
| Year | Colour | Value (pence) |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Green | 29p |
| 1983 | Black | 30p |
| 1985 | Ruby | 28p |
| 1985 | Blue | 37p |
| 1986 | Brown | 32p |
References[edit]
- ^ "National Monuments of County Galway in State Care" (PDF). heritageireland.ie. National Monument Service. p. 8. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- ^ "Saint Macdara's Island/Cruach na Cara (Oileán Mhic Dara)". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- ^ Walsh, David (29 March 2018). Oileain: A Guide to the Irish Islands. Pesda Press. ISBN 9780953195695 – via Google Books.
- ^ Robinson, Tim (19 June 2007). Connemara: Listening to the Wind. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141900711 – via Google Books.
- ^ Tibus, Website design and development by. "Oops the page no longer exists - Discover Ireland" (PDF). www.discoverireland.ie.
- ^ "Explanation to Accompany Sheets 1-". H.M. Stationery Office. 29 March 1871 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Saint Mac Dara's Island R.A.S. Macalister". www.aislingmagazine.com.
- ^ "St macdara's island, County Galway". www.earlychristianireland.net.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Day, Catharina (29 March 2018). Ireland. New Holland Publishers. ISBN 9781860113277 – via Google Books.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c MacCarthy, Dan (8 July 2022). "Islands of Ireland: If you ever posted a letter in the 1980s you'll be familiar with Macdara's Island". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ Kilcoyne, Clodagh. "Seafarers' pilgrimage to MacDara's Island". The Wider Image.
- ^ Harbison, Peter (1992). Pilgrimage in Ireland: the monuments and the people] (First ed.). London and Frome: Barrie and Jenkins Limited. pp. 96–99. ISBN 0 8156 0265 0.
- ^ "Pilgrimage to the Connemara coast - Independent.ie".
- ^ Postage Stamps of Ireland: 70 years (1922 – 1992). Dublin: An Post. 1992. pp. 26–7. ISBN 1 872228 13 5.
- ^ Stamp Catalogue: Ireland (6th ed.). London and Ringwood: Stanley Gibbons. 2015. p. 20. ISBN 978 0 85259 924 2.