| In the Footsteps of St. Patrick
Malcolm Rogers has a few ideas where you might visit in Ireland.
A tour based round St. Patrick’s life should by rights start off in a
place called Bannaven Taburniae. That’s where, according to the Saint
himself, he was born. Unfortunately nobody now knows where Bannaven is —
best guesses are somewhere in Wales or Scotland. But as no-one can be
sure, a tour of the Saint’s stomping ground must begin where he made his
name, in Ireland.
There are many sites associated with The Apostle of Ireland — Armagh,
the Hill of Tara, Croagh Patrick, and Slemish in Antrim — but none is
more closely associated than Downpatrick, the ancient capital of the
kingdom of Lecale, and county town of Down. It is here in the leafy
graveyard of Down Cathedral where St. Patrick is reputably buried. A
large simple granite slab with his name is all that marks the grave,
despite the fact that two other saints, Brigid and Colmcille are
reputedly buried here.
Now I have a little bad news here — it’s by no means certain that any of
the bones of these saintly personages occupy the tomb in the grounds of
St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Because, rather incongruously, the site was
picked out and erected at the beginning of the 20th century by the
Belfast Naturalists’ Field Club — granted they used local knowledge, but
all the same…
Despite this curious piece of local history, there is ample evidence
that Patrick is buried somewhere in these grounds, most likely under the
main portal of the cathedral.
Apart from being Patrick’s last resting place, Down Cathedral is an
essential visit in its own history. This is a place which was destroyed
by earthquake, pillaged by the Danes, burnt by the Scots, destroyed
again by the English, and then lay in ruins for the best part of 200
years. Nowadays it’s hard to imagine a more peaceful place, with its
views across the Quoile to the ancient Cistercian Abbey of Inch.
The influence of Patrick is everywhere hereabouts. About a mile north
east of Downpatrick, at the mouth of the Slaney River (now called
Fiddler’s Burn), is the village of Saul where St. Patrick began his
mission to Ireland circa AD 432, and where he died. A more picturesque
area — or quintessentially Irish — it would be difficult to find. With
the Mournes as a backdrop, the tightly hedged fields stretch endlessly
across the drumlins. And just in case you’re wondering, the word “Saul”
has no biblical connotations. It’s derived from the Irish word “Sabhal”
meaning barn.
The barn in question was St. Patrick’s first church, and put at his
disposal by the local chieftain Michu, one of Patrick’s earliest
converts. A small church was built on the site, but like the cathedral
up the road the building did not have a happy history. It also took a
turn for the Norse, being burned by the Danes, rebuilt by St. Malachy,
sacked by Magnus O’ Eochadha King of Ulster, and burnt to the ground
again in 1316 by Edward Bruce.
St. Patrick’s funeral procession was said to have begun from the church
— according to legend two white oxen pulled his coffin to his last
resting place in Downpatrick.
A short distance along from Saul, near the village of Raholp, is St.
Patrick’s Hill (415 feet or so) atop of which stands an impressive
statue of the saint. The views from the summit are superb, on a clear
day extending to the north over the impossibly picturesque Strangford
Lough, and to the south across Dundrum Bay to the heights of Slieve
Donard. Just beyond Raholp is the ruin of a church associated with St.
Tassach who is thought to have ministered the last communion to the
dying St. Patrick on March 17, sometime between 460 and 490.
There are two interpretative centres hard by Down Cathedral. The St.
Patrick’s Centre is a high tech guide to the saint’s life, and is quite
beautifully done. Downpatrick Museum sits on the site of the old
Downpatrick Gaol, and as well as tracing the ministry of our Patron
Saint, it also contains a lot of information about the United Irishmen,
many of whom went to their eternal reward behind these old grey walls.
But really, you don’t need to go to any visitors’ centres to soak up the
atmosphere of this ancient place. Its history is alive in the landscape,
and in its people. The countryside is almost soporifically beautiful,
plus — and this is no exaggeration — you can find as much history in an
acre of Co. Down than you could in a day’s march through Rome. This St.
Patrick’s Day you could wander through the Georgian Streets of
Downpatrick and on to the old Cistercian Abbey of Inch and contemplate
the man who brought Christianity to our shores. |
