An Irishwoman’s Diary: Ballintubber Abbey and Pilgrim Paths

Former Mayo Man of the Year and longtime curate of Ballintubber Abbey, Frank Fahey would approve of being called a pilgrim, as well as a priest. That isn’t just because the ancient abbey, which celebrates its 800th anniversary this year, is the place to have your “Pilgrim Paths” passport stamped – a relatively new initiative which encompasses five of Ireland’s medieval routes.

Neither is it because our patron saint, Patrick stopped at the future site of the abbey back in 441AD as he trod along an ancient chariot route to the holy mountain, Cruachán Aigle, or Croagh Patrick as it has been called since the Christian colonisation of our Celtic spiritual narrative.

Just beyond the walls of Ballintubber Abbey stone flags have been uncovered that lead the way on the Tóchar Phádraig Pilgrim Path to the holy mountain through a natural gallery of artefacts, which unfurls the cross-millennial story of Irish spirituality.

The meandering path leads to the round tower village of Aghagower, the megalithic passage graves and standing stones at Lankill and then on to the southern slopes of the mountain where the circular drawings on the Rock of Boheh depict the sun rolling down the sides of the mountain.

Reputedly, this was once a chariot route from Cruachán in Co Roscommon, the seat of the Kings of Connacht. Indeed the abbey was founded by one of these kings, Cathal Croibhdhearg Ua Conchobair, or Cathal Mór of the Wine-Red Hand.

While there are many references in the Annals of the Four Masters to 1216 being the year of the abbey's foundation, the circumstances are shrouded in legend. What is a matter of record, however, is that the abbey has survived the regal edicts of King Henry VIII, Cromwellian destruction and the Penal Laws. In 1603 James I confiscated all the lands belonging to the abbey, which was then run by Augustinian friars. Their presence ended when Cromwellian soldiers attempted to burn it down in 1653 but while many ancillary buildings were destroyed, the abbey church survived.

Roofless

Two centuries later the abbey was roofless and in serious disrepair as depicted in poignant black-and-white images of a famine-stricken flock kneeling and praying in long grass. From the Wynne photographic collection, they are among the images on the walls of the restored Chapter House today. The decimation caused by the Great Famine of the 1840s put paid to initial attempts to reroof the nave and transepts of the cruciform shaped abbey. However, as the country came out from the shadow of famine and embraced a broad cultural and political reawakening, help and assistance to restore it came from a broad spectrum of benefactors.

Restoration

One such donor was a clergyman of the Church of Ireland, Rev E D Cleaver, who, in a letter to

The Connaught Telegraph

, January 19th, 1889, said how impressed he was that even while roofless and “during all the wars and persecutions that the Holy Sacrifice had been offered without intermission on every Sunday within its walls”. Praising the “faith and zeal” of those leading the restoration “in the present depressed state of the country”, he explained that he was “a poor man without professional income” and could only offer £2.

Later restoration projects ensured the nave was re-roofed for the 750th anniversary in 1966, while the Chapter House and Dorter Room, which now facilitates thousands of young retreatants each year, were restored under the baton of Frank Fahey in 1997.

The publication of plans for the restoration of the entire east wing will mark this year’s centenary celebrations, which include a series of events around the annual Reek Sunday pilgrimage. RTÉ will broadcast a specially-composed Mass by Liam Lawton on June 26th next.

Since his arrival to Ballintubber 30 years ago, Fahey’s indomitable energy has ensured “the abbey that refused to die” continues to interpret the rich story of Irish spiritualism and religion and how its tapestry wove and weaves into the everyday lives of people.

For pilgrim priest, Frank Fahey: “Praying in the long grass of a roofless abbey, these people, the constant congregation, dared to hope, through all the vicissitudes of war and famine and in that way they preserved the soul of Ireland. There may be a roof on the abbey now but the search continues up byways and boreens and in the stillness of church pews.”

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