‘Here comes everybody': Connemara fishermen lead seafaring pilgrimage to patron saint MacDara
Connemara
and the rest of the world braved sea journeys to a small island off Co
Galway
for the annual Féile Mhic Dara gathering on Wednesday.
About 85 boats, mostly traditional fishermen's wooden currachs, ferried some 500 people to Oileán Mhic Dara, St MacDara's Island, for the July 16th pilgrimage, when the patron saint of Connemara's fishermen is honoured.
But no fishing was done. Local fisherman devoted their time, as they do on this day every year, bringing locals and others to the early Christian oratory that stands like a stone barnacle on this uninhabited rock for the traditional mass.
'People come back from every corner of the world. They come back for Christmas and for St MacDara's Day,' said Fr Shane Sullivan, the parish priest from nearby Carna and, like his new boss in the Vatican, a native of Chicago.
READ MORE
Tides and weather set the rhythms of fishing and life out here. A morning high tide and overcast but calm day allowed people to make the 11.45am mass.
Fr Sullivan said people in Connemara feel a 'strong sense' of heritage, place and community. He described the 'rough and ready' tradition of travelling to the island by various seafaring crafts as an 'awesome chance' for everyone to gather.
'It's a bit like James Joyce said: here comes everybody,' he said.
'It is a great pilgrimage for the boatmen and for fishermen. Their work is very dangerous so they come here and they have a sense of wanting a blessing.'
He ended the hillside mass – said over a wooden altar that could be broken up into three to fit on a currach – with a blessing for the men and their boats.
Fr Shane Sullivan, parish priest from Carna, Co Galway, celebrates mass on St MacDara's Island for the festival. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni
Fishermen first like to circle the island to honour the sixth century saint who fished, survived and built a wooden church on this windswept location.
One fisherman, Johnny Cloherty of Muighinis, dipped his hand in the water passing the island on John Ó Flatharta's boat Golden Adventure to bless himself.
'It is a big day for the fishermen,' said Cloherty.
Fisherman Johnny Cloherty journeys by boat to St MacDara's Island for Lá Fhéile Mhic Dara. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni/The Irish Times
Locals say, in old days, fishermen dipped their foresail passing by in tribute to the saint.
'There is a story that one man didn't dip his sail on purpose,' said local fisherman MacDara Breathnach, who was named after a grandfather who was named after the saint.
'The mast broke and fell down on top of him and killed him dead in the boat. They are just stories. We would respect it.'
Sitting on the island, well-known Connemara actor Páraic Breathnach, a pilgrim to the island for most years of his life, said people here still have a 'pre-Christian faith'.
'They believe in superstition and when are you dealing with the sea and the weather and the wind and the vagaries of the ocean you have to believe in something and MacDara is a great man to have on your side,' he said.
For many, the day is a time to catch up, as generations mix over post-mass picnics and flasks of tea.
Mairtín Barrett has been visiting the island for over 80 years. Photograph: Chris Maddaloni/The Irish Times
Mairtín Barrett (92) said the day 'hasn't changed a lot really' in all his years.
Margaret Mulkerrin (76), who returned from Boston, said her first MacDara's trip was 72 years ago: 'It was a very windy day. We were kind of afraid; there were nine in the boat.'
It is a first visit to Ireland for her grandson, Michael Frazier Jr (12).
'It is a really fascinating experience to see something that has been here so long and is still standing,' he said, looking up at the oratory.
This is Fr Sullivan's fourth MacDara's as the local priest. His father emigrated to Chicago from this parish in the 1970s. Shane returned in 2008 and was ordained in 2012.
'I really wanted to come here and be a priest – it felt like a calling,' said Fr Sullivan, who was motivated by 'how few young men were going forward to the priesthood'.
Serving in a Gaeltacht meant learning Irish over three summers in Carraroe. His mass on the island was said in a strong American Irish.
'People get a laugh out of it because I still do sound like an American,' he said.
'Try to speak Irish with this accent – it's a bit strange.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Inside Kerry's All-Ireland final prep: recovery vans, suit fittings, and hotel chess
Just as it was absent after their stunning All-Ireland quarter-final win over Armagh, the Kerry team bus wasn't near their dressing room following the semi-final victory against Tyrone. Instead, parked outside the door of it under the Hogan Stand beside trusty kit man Colm Whelan's van was a truck with C11 Recovery emblazoned along the side. Eagle-eyed viewers of The Open Championship in Portrush last week may also have noticed it in the players' area. On Instagram, would-be champion Scottie Scheffler and former Masters winner Jon Rahm were pictured outside it. For the past few seasons, Kerry have been using the Kildare-based mobile recovery unit, which features Avantopool ice baths and compression boots. Cork GAA, Munster Rugby, Basketball and Cricket Ireland are among its founder Ryan Casey's other clients. 'For the last number of years, any time we would have got to Croke Park, a recovery guy comes in,' Kerry selector of the previous three seasons Mike Quirke told the Irish Examiner football podcast last month. 'There would be ice baths in the shower area. As soon as that quarter-final is over, the boys goe straight in there for the next day. 'It's a great service and you know what it's a nice thing for players as well because you're saying, 'The recovery guy is booked because we're going to be here in two weeks' time.'' Psychologically, it is most certainly a boost and almost as self-fulfilling and prophetic was something that occurred across Jones Road last Saturday week. Outside of All-Ireland finals in GAA HQ, Kerry have their post-match meal in the Croke Park Hotel but there they were also fitted for their All-Ireland final suits. A couple of hours after qualifying for the final and they were already dealing with the frills and fuss that come with the day. This month three years ago, Jack O'Connor spoke of the distractions around All-Ireland final day. 'They have to understand that this is about performing on the big day and not getting carried away with any sideshows or tickets and looking after their partners the night before and all this. There are a lot of sideshows. 'Getting measured for suits, tickets and accommodation for their partners and all that, you have to absolutely park all of that stuff and concentrate on the performance because it will be well forgotten about if we can't get over the line now.' The logistics and other non-management backroom members pride themselves on their diligent levels of preparation. As they did for the last two games, Kerry will stay in Dunboyne the night before the game with Donegal also expected to spend Saturday in Meath in Enfield (Kerry's banquet is the Clayton Hotel Burlington on Leeson Street and Donegal's takes place in The Radisson Hotel in Golden Lane). Kerry's bookings had been arranged for months – Donegal stayed in the Burlington hotel when they won the 2012 final but Kerry were there when they beat them two years later. For last month's quarter-final, Kerry had heard Armagh attempted to book into the regular Dunboyne base. The result mightn't have gone the team's way but for the final group game against Meath in Tullamore last month, they had organised their accommodation in Mullingar weeks before Glenisk O'Connor Park was confirmed as the venue. In 2022, Kerry made an advance payment on their hotel for an All-Ireland quarter-final assuming they would beat Limerick in the Munster final. The pre-paid booking saved them around €7,000. Last year, accommodation costs for Kerry totalled €165,436 compared to €177,302 in 2023. When Kerry beat Dublin in the following semi-final that year, they hadn't a hotel booked for the night after the final. The team they had vanquished no longer needed their sleeping partners The Gibson Hotel and took their place. There may have been some confusion about April's training camp in Portugal. Last November, treasurer Paudie Healy told local media it would not be taking place only for that decision to be reversed. 'Sure we're going anyway,' smiled O'Connor about the board agreeing to the trip after Kerry claimed the Division 1 title. Like other counties realised, going abroad worked out cheaper than a camp at home but for Kerry who had played seven games in eight weeks it was also a chance to work on two-pointers. 'It's a skill getting the right kickers on it and creating the space, so we had a bit more time starting with the training camp to work on stuff like that,' he recalled earlier this month. 'That was the real practical reason.' A total of 25 in their eight SFC games compared to 11 in the same amount of league fixtures would suggest the work done on two-pointers on the break was money well spent.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Metrolink to Dublin Airport not needed, says Michael O'Leary
Nobody will use the planned Metrolink from Dublin city centre to the airport while it will cost taxpayers multiples of any budget allocated to the project, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has said. The Government's revised National Development Plan earmarks €2 billion to 'kick-start' the metrolink underground line from Charlemont, near Stephen's Green in central Dublin to the airport, which could cost up to €23 billion. Mr O'Leary, whose company is the biggest airline flying out of Dublin, predicted that no one will be able to use the rail line when it opens. He argued that no one could go to Stephen's Green at 4am, 'where there is nowhere to park' to catch trains to the airport. READ MORE [ Opens in new window ] Millions of passengers now travel to the airport on buses connecting it with central Dublin, Belfast, Cork and other locations, the airline chief said. 'The buses work, people already use the buses, you do not need to repeat what's already there,' he added. Mr O'Leary noted that the proposed line had no connections to the city's other public transport including buses and Luas trams. He dismissed the argument that Dublin is one of Europe's few capital cities with no rail line to its airport, saying few cities had airports within 9km. 'It will not be delivered on time and it will be 20 times over budget,' Mr O'Leary warned. Officials told Darragh O'Brien, Minister for Transport, in March that Metrolink's cost could hit €23 billion. Recent estimates put it between €9 billion and €12 billion. Mr O'Leary argued that outdated planning rules barred airlines from using Dublin Airport's north runway, 'one of the few pieces of infrastructure we have actually built', which opened in 2022. The Government had yet to keep a pledge made when it took office seven months ago to axe a 32 million a-year limit on passengers at Dublin Airport, Mr O'Leary said. He asked if a Government that failed to keep this promise while being responsible for the €330,000 Leinster House bicycle shed, €1.4 million Department of Finance security hut and the €2.24 billion Children's Hospital, could be trusted to deliver a €275 billion development plan. The Ryanair boss argued that the plan should include a nuclear power plant to help secure energy independence. The Republic will begin importing nuclear-generated electricity from France, once the countries complete a power line linking Cork and Brittany. Ireland already imports electricity from Britain, which has five nuclear reactors and whose government has agreed a £38 billion deal for nine new plants. Work on a further nuclear project, Hinkley Point, is already under way. The State's relies on imported electricity to cater for growing demand. 'We are at the end of the line and will be the first to be switched off if there is a crisis,' Mr O'Leary warned.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Why the Moon Travels review: Eye-opening show is not just a retelling of Traveller folktales
Why the Moon Travels Bank of Ireland Theatre, University of Galway ★★★★☆ Travellers are part of the world, and the world is part of Travellers. The phrase figures in this new show from Moonfish Theatre, which aims to open up the Traveller world, but also help preserve some aspects. Devised from the book of folktales Why the Moon Travels, by Traveller activist and writer Oein DeBhairduin (who is dramaturge here), along with the ensemble and directors Máiréad Ní Chróinín and Ionia Ní Chróinín of Moonfish, it opens the curtains a bit. On stage are three strong, articulate and warm Traveller women, Catrina Connors, Ellen Doyle and Sarah McDonagh. The set includes a yew tree, the moon, a screen shaped like the back of a barrel-wagon, edged with Traveller symbols, and on the floor a giant wheel shape. This isn't just a retelling of folktales from the 2021 book, which is, rather, a starting point, with the cast adding their own takes and experiences. READ MORE The stories are largely unfamiliar to settled people: about the old man whose beard grew and grew (eventually becoming the bog across Ireland), the origin of the yew tree, the three sisters and their kindness to a crow, the truth about why the moon travels. In the stories there's a thread connecting humans and the natural world, with elements of the supernatural thrown in. As one of the cast tells a story, the others bring it to life with shadow puppetry on the screens behind, alongside songs from Rosie McCarthy. They also show something of themselves, and of Traveller hospitality and traditions, sitting for chats and stories with a cup of weed (tea, in case you're wondering), baking soda bread onstage (very tasty), spinning and weaving (we take home a traditional Traveller red and white cord, to tie around the wrist), along with the odd bit of the Traveller language Cant, fleetingly understandable to the outsider. The three performers have an ease and naturalness and there is a bit of gentle slagging and off-the-cuff that's lovely to witness. That level of comfort takes work and time and guts to develop, along with the professional skills and experience of Moonfish. It's backed by support from University of Galway's O'Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, the Arts Council , Galway City Council and a bursary from Galway International Arts Festival and Galway Culture Company. The care and attention to detail and approach shows in the finished result. For the audience, there are hints of things we want to hear more about, too: the women's own lives, and a passing reference to why many Travellers no longer travel, on foot of bad experiences. We're a small society but outsiders know little about the traditional culture of Travellers, who often get a bad rap. This is a lovely show, eye-opening and rich in the sharing with settled people, but also important for Travellers themselves, retelling the stories for fear of losing them. They ask, what do we lose when the old stories disappear, and what do we gain when they are told again? Significant too, that this show takes stories from an oral tradition, which were then committed to the page by DeBhairduin, and are here returned to a version of the oral tradition.
