Mayo's holy mountain, Croagh Patrick, may be incorrectly named after the patron saint whose festival was celebrated yesterday. The old Irish name for it was Crochβn Aigli, according to a recently-published book on the antiquities of west Mayo.
It is not a new theory, but one that is explored in the handsomely illustrated record compiled by archaeologist Christiaan Corlett. He refers to a medieval text which says the mountain was named after Aigle, who was killed there by Crom Derg ("Red Fist"). Before that, it was also known as Cruachβn Gabrois.
During the 18th century, "Aigle" was frequently mistranslated as "Eagle mountain", and one travel writer even elaborated on this by stating that it appeared "like an eagle stretching out its wings". However, in the early Bronze Age the mountain was regarded as sacred, and Corlett recounts the legend of St Patrick's visit, when he was said to have been tormented by Caorthannach, the devil's mother, who assumed the shape of a serpent.
Another legend, recorded by John O'Donovan of the Ordnance Survey, says the lake under its eastern shoulder was formed by Patrick's conflict with the demons at that time. It is said that Patrick drove Corra, the fiercest of them, into a hollow with so much violence that it caused a lake to spring forth. During a tour of Connacht in 1838, writer Caesar Otway was told by a local guide that there was a serpent fastened alive to the lake's bed.
"But in the time of storm, when thunder is rolling, and lightning flashing and frightening away the dark night, then the serpent is allowed to rise and take its sport on the surface; and when by any chance man at this time pass that lonely water, they see the serpent riding the waves like a wild horse with a flowing mane; the froth boiling away from his sides, and all is terrible entirely."
Corlett's study, which is beautifully designed to make the most of some stunning colour photography, focuses on the baronies of Burrishoole and Murrisk in west Mayo, extending from Killary harbour in the south to Mulranny in the north. It includes the islands of Inishturk and Clare Island off the west coast. He notes that writers over the last three centuries have been inspired by a diverse landscape, which is most frequently characterised by a turbulent relationship between rock and water.
His book sets the scene with an introduction to the physical landscape, and moves chronologically through the various stages of its history, concluding with the aftermath of the Great Famine and the mark that this left on the landscape. It includes an invaluable guide to the monuments, and a detailed glossary.
Also recently published is volume two of the new survey of Clare Island which has been taking place under the auspices of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) over the past decade. The survey, which was initiated on foot of symposia held on the island in the late 1980s by Ciara Cullen and Peter Gill, aims to update the work first carried out there between 1909 and 1911 for the RIA. Naturalists and scientists from all over Europe worked with Robert Lloyd Praeger to compile the most comprehensive inventory of its type at a single geographical location.
As the RIA points out, the Praeger study laid the foundation for further work which takes on even greater significance at a time of global environmental change.
The New Survey of Clare Island: Volume 2: Geology, edited by John R Graham is published by the Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson St, Dublin 2, at €30 paperback. The publication is supported by Enterprise Energy Ireland among other sponsors.
Antiquities of West Mayo: the archaeologies of the baronies of Burrishoole and Murrisk by Christiaan Corlett is published by Wordwell Ltd, at €31.74.