Saint Macdara's Island

Island in County Galway, Ireland

53°18′16″N 9°55′02″W / 53.304424°N 9.917318°W / 53.304424; -9.917318Public accessYes
National monument of Ireland
Official nameSaint Macdara's IslandReference 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

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

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

A stone church or oratory, probably a shrine for Macdara's remains. There are several cross slabs and an enclosure.[15]

Postage stamps

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

  1. ^ "National Monuments of County Galway in State Care" (PDF). heritageireland.ie. National Monument Service. p. 8. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Saint Macdara's Island/Cruach na Cara (Oileán Mhic Dara)". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  3. ^ Walsh, David (29 March 2018). Oileain: A Guide to the Irish Islands. Pesda Press. ISBN 9780953195695 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Robinson, Tim (19 June 2007). Connemara: Listening to the Wind. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141900711 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Tibus, Website design and development by. "Oops the page no longer exists - Discover Ireland" (PDF). www.discoverireland.ie.
  6. ^ "Explanation to Accompany Sheets 1-". H.M. Stationery Office. 29 March 1871 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Saint Mac Dara's Island R.A.S. Macalister". www.aislingmagazine.com.
  8. ^ "St macdara's island, County Galway". www.earlychristianireland.net.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Day, Catharina (29 March 2018). Ireland. New Holland Publishers. ISBN 9781860113277 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Kilcoyne, Clodagh. "Seafarers' pilgrimage to MacDara's Island". The Wider Image.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "Pilgrimage to the Connemara coast - Independent.ie".
  16. ^ Postage Stamps of Ireland: 70 years (1922 – 1992). Dublin: An Post. 1992. pp. 26–7. ISBN 1 872228 13 5.
  17. ^ Stamp Catalogue: Ireland (6th ed.). London and Ringwood: Stanley Gibbons. 2015. p. 20. ISBN 978 0 85259 924 2.