Saint Macdara's Island

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″N9°55′02″W / 53.304424°N 9.917318°W / 53.304424; -9.917318
Public access	Yes
National monument of Ireland
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

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

19th century illustration, prior to the roof restoration of 1977

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. 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.