with the support of:

RTE National Prime Time News, 05.05.2012

A report by Seán Mac an tSíthigh

HEADHUNTER RTE NEWS 5 May 2012 from Ciaran Walsh on Vimeo.

Irish Independent

The Headhunters

By Ciarán Walsh

Wednesday April 28 2012

28.05.2012: Irish Independent Weekend Magazine, article by Ciarán Walsh, www.curator.ie, giving the background to the ‘Headhunter’ project. Read More:

The Irish Times

Headhunter exhibits get the measure of Irish anthropology in the late 1800s

DEIRDRE McQUILLAN

Fri, Apr 27, 2012

PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN in remote parts of the west of Ireland between 1891 and 1900, are to be displayed in public for the first time in The Irish Headhunter exhibition which opens on May 3rd in the Blasket Centre in Dunquin.

The pictures were taken by Dublin GP and anthropologist Charles R Browne, who was instrumental in developing anthropology in TCD’s anatomy department.

Dr Browne surveyed communities on the western seaboard in a series of studies, starting with the Aran Islands, using the so-called anthropometric methods of the time to measure and classify humans and “racial types”.

Sliding rules, steel tapes and “craniometers” were used to gauge the circumference of the heads of his often unwilling subjects: methods that seem repellent to modern sensibilities, as Jane Maxwell says in the catalogue.

“Alive or dead, the head of the Irish peasant was a source of intense interest to Browne and his associates,” writes curator Ciarán Walsh in his introduction.

“The taking of skulls recorded in the photographs and ethnographies makes the evidence of headhunting in the west of Ireland the most striking aspect of the albums.”

These images and eyewitness accounts, however, give a valuable snapshot of the lives of rural people: their houses, their dress and modes of transport. Most importantly, their names are recorded – very significant in small, tight-knit communities, although a portrait of Inishbofin schoolmaster Myles Joyce and his daughter neglects to give her name, a telling omission.

The first photographs of the people of the Great Blasket are included along with the rugged people self-described as the “kings” of North Iniskea, Inishark and Clare Islands.

Dáithí de Mórdha of the Dunquin Centre identified Tomás Ó Criomhthain, author of The Islandman, in one photograph.

Dr Browne, born in 1857 in Co Tipperary, the son of a school inspector, graduated from TCD in 1893. He began his studies in the west with professor of zoology AC Haddon of TCD and later had a surgery in Harcourt Street.

He died in Cornwall in 1931 and his daughter Gwendoline gave the photographic albums to Trinity in 1997, shortly before her death.

The exhibition will later travel to Inis Oírr, Eanach Mheáin, Castlebar, Cambridge University and Dublin.

© 2012 The Irish Times

Irish Independent

When the head hunters went way out west

By Majella O’Sullivan

Wednesday May 09 2012

HE is considered one of our most important writers, but in a picture taken nearly 120 years ago, it was the size of his head that captured the photographer’s attention.

Tomas O Criomhthain wrote ‘An tOileanach’ (‘The Islandman’), his autobiography about growing up in the Blasket Islands.

But he was also one of the subjects captured by Dr Charles R Browne for his study on the ethnicity of the people of the west coast of Ireland in the late 19th century.

At a time when race issues were in vogue, Dr Browne, who was attached to the Anatomy Department of Trinity College Dublin, was part of a study that was trying to search for an Africanoid Celtic race.

They set about measuring the heads and examining the physical features of the people of the west to establish where they were in the ‘Index of Nigrescence’.

This was designed to quantify how close people were to “being negro”.

Between 1891 and 1900 Dr Browne, who was from Co Tipperary but of Anglo Irish descent, travelled the west coast and the islands to study “isolated tribes”.

His study is illustrated by 62 photographs that are on display as part of ‘The Irish Headhunter’ exhibition in the Blasket Island Centre in Dun Chaoin, Co Kerry.

Exhibition

At the end of June the exhibition will move to the Aran Islands and Connemara, before it finishes up at the National Museum in Castlebar, Co Mayo.

“Browne wrote detailed ethnological reports of all these places, comparing the people of the islands to those living on the mainland,” said Daithi de Mordha, one of the curators of the exhibition.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the report he did on the Blasket Islands and west Kerry but what we do have is a record of the west coast taken 120 years ago that is unparalleled.”

Dr Browne measured the heads of his subjects using an instrument called Flower’s Craniometer, often without their consent.

The photographs of Tomas O Criomhthain and two others show their front and side profile, almost like a modern-day police mug shot.

The photographs were taken on the Blasket Islands in 1897 when O Criomhthain was in his 40s.

Dr Browne also made detailed observations of the people.

Of the people of the Aran Islands he wrote: “The range and distinctiveness of the vision is astonishing . . . and we are told by Dr Kean that on a clear day, any of the men whose eyesight is average can, with a naked eye, make out a small sailing boat at Black Head, 20 miles away.”

Of the population of Mullet in Co Mayo he observes: “The people on the whole are good-looking, especially when young; many of the girls and young women are very handsome, but they appear to age rapidly and early become wrinkled.”

Other observations are less flattering like this one made on ‘dietetic diseases’ on Inishbofin: “There can be no doubt that the use, or abuse, of tea must bear a certain amount of the blame. The most common forms of complaint are flatulence and constipation.”

While in the 20th century we were obsessed with the north/south divide, these pictures show the east/west divide, Mr de Mordha added.

However, he also notes that while Dr Browne’s study may have begun as a cold, clinical scientific one, this changed over time.

“I think his opinion softened as he went along and he talks about them in more human terms,” the curator said.

Irish Examiner

Rare photos capture island life in 1890s

By Donal Hickey

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

An exhibition of rare photographs is offering a glimpse of life on the Blasket Islands and other parts of the west coast in the late 19th century.

Just opened at the Blasket Centre in Dunquin (Dún Chaoin), Co Kerry, the exhibition has been described as one of the most important and interesting photographic collections to come into the public domain for some time.

The photographs are drawn from the albums of Charles R Browne, a medical doctor and anthropologist from Dublin who surveyed communities in the remotest parts of the west between 1891 and 1900.

The photographs were filed in a series of albums, six of which survive, in the library of Trinity College Dublin. A selection is now being exhibited for the first time, with the permission of the TCD board.

Dr Browne began systematically recording skull measurements as a means of racial classification of island communities and their mainland neighbours in Kerry, the Aran Islands, Connemara, and Mayo.

Between 1891 and 1893, he worked with Alfred Cort Haddon on the Ethnography of the Aran Islands for the Royal Irish Academy.

According to the exhibition’s co-curator Ciaran Walsh, the Browne archive is an unequalled illustration of life in the west of Ireland in the 1890s, including some of the earliest known photos of these communities, their physical appearance, and styles of dress.

“The difference between these and other photographs of the same time lies in the systematic way Browne recorded his subjects,” Mr Walsh said.

Among the people photographed were Myles Joyce, the schoolmaster on Inishbofin, with his daughter, whose name is not recorded; Seán ‘An Common Noun’ Ó Dálaigh and all the schoolchildren of the old schoolhouse at Dún Chaoin; and the first photographs of the people of An Blascaod Mór (Great Blasket).

“The naming of subjects is one of the most striking features of Browne’s albums. Many people have not been named, but it is probable that many people will identify their great, great-grandparents during the run of this exhibition,” Mr Walsh said.

The exhibition will run for six weeks in the Blasket Centre before going on to venues in Galway and Mayo.

Exhibition Dates 2012 /13

Ionad An Bhlascaoid Mhóir
3 May, 2012 – 23 June, 2012

Ionad Ealaíne Áras Éanna, Inis Oirr,

1 July, 2012 – 28 July 2012

Dublin
(Sepetember, dates to be confirmed)

Oireachtas na Gaeilge, An Galf Chúrsa, Eanach Mheáin
6 October, 2012 – 3 November 2012

Árd Mhúsaem na hÉireann, Saol na Tuaithe, Castlebar
1 December, 2012 – 31 May, 2013

2013

The Haddon Library, Cambridge University (September).

Catalogue | Catalóg 

Fiagaí na gCeann Gaelach: Na hAlbaim Ghrianghraf le Charles R. Browne

The Irish Headhunter: The Photographic Albums of Charles R. Browne

by

Ciarán Walsh | www.curator.ie & Dáithí De Mórdha

OIFIG DHÍOLTA FOILSEACHÁN RIALTAIS,

TEACH SUN ALLIANCE, SRÁID THEACH LAIGHEAN, BAILE ÁTHA

CLIATH 2,

nó tríd an bpost ó

FOILSEACHÁIN RIALTAIS, AN RANNÓG POST-TRÁCHTA,

AONAD 20 PÁIRC MIONDÍOLA COIS LOCHA,CLÁR CHLAINNE MHUIRIS, CONTAE MHAIGH EO

(Teil: 01 – 6476834/37 nó 1890 213434; Fax 01 – 6476843 nó 094 – 9378964 )

nó trí aon díoltóir leabhar.

__________

DUBLIN

PUBLISHED BY THE STATIONERY OFFICE

To be purchased directly from the

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS SALE OFFICE

SUN ALLIANCE HOUSE, MOLESWORTH STREET, DUBLIN 2,

or by mail order from

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS, POSTAL TRADE SECTION,

UNIT 20 LAKESIDE RETAIL PARK, CLAREMORRIS, CO. MAYO

(Tel: 01 – 6476834/37 or 1890 213434; Fax: 01 – 6476843 or 094 – 9378964)

or through any bookseller.

 © The Board of Trinity College Dublin

Is this the most important photographic archive in Ireland?

www.curator.ie launches the ‘Irish Headhunter Project,’ an exhibition by Ciarán Walsh and Dáithí de Mórdha

in association with

Trinity College Dublin, The Royal Irish Academy, Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir / The Blasket Centre,  Mairéad Ní Ghallchóir (Áras Éanna, Inis Oírr, Árann), Jane Maxwell (TCD), Tim Keefe (TCD), Justin Carville (IADT Dún Laoghaire), Ciarán Rooney (FILMBANK Colour Management) and Séamas Mac Philib, The National Museum of Ireland – Country Life.

Funded by the Office of Public Works (OPW) and The Heritage Council.

Introducing Charles R. Browne, the Irish ‘Headhunter’

How did one explain the presence of a primitive (white) race living in the back yard of the United Kingdom – at the height of the British Empire? Scientists based in Trinity College Dublin attempted to do just that by documenting the physical characteristics and habits of  communities in the remotest parts of Ireland. Starting in Aran in 1891, they moved along the west coast and finished up in Carna in 1900. The whole thing was recorded by Charles R. Browne and his associates on a new generation of portable cameras using plates and rolled film, the latest in photographic technology at the time. They took more than photos however, they were the Irish ‘headhunters.’

Alive or dead the head of the Irish native was at the centre of all of their research, cranial capacity (brain size) and physiognomy being regarded as the key to unlocking the mystery of the origins of the Irish race. Specimens – the skulls of dead islanders – were collected and lodged in the Museum of Comparative Anatomy in TCD. Live heads were also taken … with a camera. These anthropometric portraits were contextualised with photographs of “the occupations, modes of transport, and habitations of the people, also several of the antiquities of the district, and a set of views showing surface of land and nature of coastline, etc.”

‘Charles R. Browne The Irish Headhunter’ exhibition will present in exhibition, for the first time ever, the photographs collected by Charles R. Browne. These are held in the Research Collection and Manuscripts Library of Trinity College Dublin. They have been scanned and reproduced especially for this exhibition and it is the first time most of them will have been seen in public.

This is probably the most important photographic archive to come into the public domain. It is supported by written reports – ethnographies – that are held in the Royal Irish Academy. Browne’s archive is singular in terms of its depiction of life on the west coast of Ireland in the 1890s. The anthropological inquiry – and the headhunting – that motivated it is one of the best kept secrets in Ireland.

The exhibition opens on Thursday 3 May 2012 in Ionad an Bhlaoscaoid Mhóir, Dún Chaoin, Co. Kerry.

Information: Dáithí de Mórdha +353(0)669156444 or Ciarán Walsh +353(0)872370846.

 © The Board of Trinity College Dublin

The photographs are reproduced with the permission of the Board of Trinity College Dublin.

The Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy are published with the permission of the Royal Irish Academy ©RIA.

The ‘Headhunter’ project has been made possible with financial support of  the

Office of Public Works (OPW) and

The Heritage Council (Education and Outreach Grants 2012).

meet the Irish Headhunters

Exhibition Dates 2012 /13

Ionad An Bhlascaoid Mhóir
3 May, 2012 – 23 June, 2012

Ionad Ealaíne Áras Éanna, Inis Oirr,

1 July, 2012 – 28 July 2012

Dublin
(Sepetember, dates to be confirmed)

Oireachtas na Gaeilge, An Galf Chúrsa, Eanach Mheáin
6 October, 2012 – 3 November 2012

Árd Mhúsaem na hÉireann, Saol na Tuaithe, Castlebar
1 December, 2012 – 31 May, 2013

2013

The Haddon Library, Cambridge University (September).

Catalogue | Catalóg 

Fiagaí na gCeann Gaelach: Na hAlbaim Ghrianghraf le Charles R. Browne

The Irish Headhunter: The Photographic Albums of Charles R. Browne

by

Ciarán Walsh | www.curator.ie & Dáithí De Mórdha

OIFIG DHÍOLTA FOILSEACHÁN RIALTAIS,

TEACH SUN ALLIANCE, SRÁID THEACH LAIGHEAN, BAILE ÁTHA

CLIATH 2,

nó tríd an bpost ó

FOILSEACHÁIN RIALTAIS, AN RANNÓG POST-TRÁCHTA,

AONAD 20 PÁIRC MIONDÍOLA COIS LOCHA,CLÁR CHLAINNE MHUIRIS, CONTAE MHAIGH EO

(Teil: 01 – 6476834/37 nó 1890 213434; Fax 01 – 6476843 nó 094 – 9378964 )

nó trí aon díoltóir leabhar.

__________

DUBLIN

PUBLISHED BY THE STATIONERY OFFICE

To be purchased directly from the

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS SALE OFFICE

SUN ALLIANCE HOUSE, MOLESWORTH STREET, DUBLIN 2,

or by mail order from

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS, POSTAL TRADE SECTION,

UNIT 20 LAKESIDE RETAIL PARK, CLAREMORRIS, CO. MAYO

(Tel: 01 – 6476834/37 or 1890 213434; Fax: 01 – 6476843 or 094 – 9378964)

or through any bookseller.

Newsflash:  Heritage Council supports www.curator.ie project

The Heritage Council has just confirmed significant support for a photographic project developed by Ciarán Walsh | www.curator.ie. Working with co-curator Dáithi de Mórdha of Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir, they have put together the ‘Headhunter’ project, an education and outreach project that features one of the most important photographic archives to have ever come into the public domain. In its letter the Heritage  Council states that a project like this is ‘critically important in the current climate for the contribution it makes to cultural tourism, education and/or quality of life.

The project has also received significant financial support from the Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir and the Visitor Services Section of The Office of Public Works (OPW).

It will be launched in Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir in May of this year before commencing a tour of some of the most important cultural venues in Ireland.

Reproduced above, with the permission of the Board of Trinity College Dublin, is the first photograph ever of the Great Blasket Island community.

More info: +353 (0) 66 401 1080 | +353 (0) 87 237 0846

Paul Galvin filmed for Andrew Duggan, Kerry and New York, 2011.

The art of handball: screen grab of Paul Galvin playing handball during a shoot for a new artwork by Dingle based artist Andrew Duggan

Paul Galvin in new artwork filmed by Ciarán Walsh | curator.ie for Andrew Duggan

Andrew Duggan and Ciarán Walsh have collaborated on artworks for 10 years, producing the groundbreaking rEVOLUTION project in 2004/5 and continuing on with a series of film based artworks and performances. The Paul Galvin shoot is part of a series that Andrew is working on for exhibition in New York. It focusses on the game of handball and the resonance that handball alleys have in contemporary Ireland.

“The handball alley was a significant venue in the cultural and political life of the surrounding community. For the most part it was built by voluntary local labour, though alleys were also gifted by landlords and patrons. In the early days, the occasion of a match was a significant local event with matchmakers among the spectators. The alley was often the venue for parish dances and gatherings. Local meetings of the United Irishmen were often held in ‘ball alleys’, the Irish Volunteers drilled in them, and they were also the scene of interegation and execution.” Vernacular Consequences

Earlier in the year Duggan and Walsh worked together on a piece that featured contemporary dancer Adrienne Heaslip. It was shown in the Irish Arts Centre in new York in March 2011.

Adrienne Heaslip in ‘Court’  by  Andrew Duggan, Irish Arts Centre New York. Photo: Irish Arts Centre

Pauline O'Connell and Ciarán Walsh filming 'Drawing The Water' with Thomas O'Sullivan. Photo: Siobhan Dempsey, Latitude Imaging.

Ciarán Walsh makes debut as film maker

Ciarán Walsh of Ballyheigue makes his debut as a film maker with a screening of a short film in Milltown at the weekend. ‘Drawing the Water’ is a public art project by artist Pauline O’Connell. It was commissioned under the Per Cent for Art Scheme that is administered by the Arts Office of Kerry County Council. It was filmed by Walsh in September, on location in Milltown and in a studio in Ballyheigue.

It was inspired by ‘The Spout,’ a public water supply in the centre of the Milltown that was a focal point in the town as local people ‘drew’ fresh water on daily basis. O’Connell developed the piece over a year, collecting stories about ‘The Spout’ in schools and in the community.

‘Drawing the Water’ is a 4.5 minute film that deals with the tasks associated with collecting water. “It’s an intense reflection on the importance of water, the rhythm of the task of collecting it and the sensuous quality of washing by hand. It’s informed by all the conversations that Pauline has had with people in the town’” says Walsh who spent 3 days filming the artwork for O’Connell. The filming  involved Thomas O’Sullivan of Milltown and the shoot was documented by photographer Siobhan Dempsey of Ballyferriter.

Walsh has set up a production company that is based in Ballyheigue. He has a number of projects in development and ‘Drawing the Water’ is the first to hit the big screen. It will be screened on a gable wall next to “The Spout” on Saturday evening followed by a second screening and a ceilí in the community centre in Milltown.

Still from the shoot on ‘Drawing The Water’ by Pauline O’Connell. Photo: Siobhan Dempsey, Latitude Imaging.

Ag Cur do Chuid Oibre i Láthair –
Ceardlann Grianghrafadóireachta d’Ealaíontóirí
Faoi stiúir
Siobhán Dempsey & Ciarán Breathnach

Údarás na Gaeltachta, An Daingean,
Dé Sathairn, 3ú Meán Fómhair 10.00 r.n. – 12:30

Tá an ceardlann seo dírithe ar ealaíontóirí, le heolas praiticiúil a roinnt leo maidir leis an slí is fearr lena gcuid oibre a chur i láthair ag úsáid meáin éagsúla: an t-idirlíon, foilsitheoireacht, teilgin. I measc na nithe a chlúdófar beidh méid comhaid, formáid, cáipéisíocht, ag déileáil le fadhbanna. Beidh an ceardlann seo úsáideach go speisialta d’ealaíontóirí go bhfuil fonn orthu a bheith páirteach i gCrosbhóthar*
*teilgin lasmuigh faoin aer ar fuaid na Gaeltachta agus i mBaile Átha Cliath mar chuid den Oíche Chultúir, 23ú Meán Fómhair 2011.

Presenting your work –
Photography Workshop for Artists
Directed by
Siobhán Dempsey & Ciarán Breathnach

Údarás na Gaeltachta, Dingle, Saturday 3rd  September, 10.00 a.m. – 12:30

This workshop is for artists, providing practical information on how best to present their work over various platforms: web, publishing, projection.
Workshop includes working with file sizes, formats, documentation, troubleshooting.
Artists who intend to submit work for the upcoming Crosbhóthar* deadline may find this workshop to be of particular use.

* outdoor projections throughout the Gaeltacht and in Dublin as part of Culture Night, 23rd September, 2011.

Kay and Bernie McAuliffe share a joke with Minister for the Arts Jimmy Deenihan TD

Thursday 25 August 2011, Listowel, Co. Kerry, Ireland.

Minister for Arts Jimmy Deenihan TD attended an event that was organized by curator.ie to mark the restoration “The Maid of Erin,’  one of the most iconic images of Ireland that was created in Listowel almost a century ago. ‘The Maid of Erin’ is the focus of a public artwork by Sean Lynch. It is dedicated to the work of Pat McAuliffe of Listowel. McAuliffe was active as a builder / plasterer over 100 years ago and created some of the most distinctive shopfronts in Ireland.

Lynch, from Moyvane, is developing an international reputation as an artist who deals with iconic images that have been lost or forgotten. Earlier this year he secured funding for the project in Listowel under the Per Cent for Art scheme administered by Kerry County Council. The ‘Maid of Erin’ premises was re-opened as a temporary centre for the study of McAuliffe’s legacy in North Kerry.  In July Freddie Chute of Listowel spent three weeks painstakingly restoring ‘The Maid of Erin.’ The project was curated by Ciarán Walsh | www.curator.ie. It concludes on Saturday 27 September 2011.

The event was  attended by the Minister for Arts along many members of the McAuliffe family and people involved in the arts and heritage in Listowel.

LINK: Sean Lynch on ‘The Stuccowork Of Pat McAuliffe of Listowel’

Text _____________________________________________________________________

Earlier this year a man went to a holy well in Kerry. He fell and banged his head. When he came to he was cured of an illness that had dogged him for years. The man has no doubt that it was miracle, an act of God that has restored his faith.

The story was picked up by Dónal Nolan of ‘The Kerryman’ but attracted little attention elsewhere. Miracles and apparitions have had a bad press since statues started moving in in the 1980s. File it under ‘some people will believe anything’ and be kind enough not to use the ‘d’ word.

Deluded or not Jack Donovan (85) of Stillorgan is convinced that he was cured. “I have no doubt but that it was a miracle. That’s what happened to me in Ballyheigue” he told the Kerryman. “I wasn’t very religious before … but I have great faith now.”

Proof? A respiratory problem that had disabled him for years had disappeared. His GP didn’t find broken bones or any other injury. The only possible explanation was that he had visited Our Lady’s Well in Ballyheigue.

Holy wells tend to combine religion and fairy faith, elements of pre-Christian belief that were incorporated in the earliest versions of Irish Christianity. The belief in cures has persisted and is maintained in the folklore and rituals associated with holy wells throughout the country.

The well in Ballyheigue is famous for a ‘Pattern’ that is held on 8 September. It’s pagan origins are acknowledged but it is now thoroughly Christianised. A pattern is usually held in honour of the parish Patron – the local saint. Our Ladies Well is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

It starts with open air mass followed by ‘paying the rounds,’ walking around the well three times in a sunwise direction reciting the rosary as you go. To go the opposite would be regarded as blasphemous. It continues with a ‘bazaar’ or fair and ends with sessions in pubs throughout the village.

Patterns have had a mixed history, being the imperfect combination of the holy and the profane. They are based on much older gatherings that took place at Easter and Harvest time, when the moon was full and the tides ran low.

These had developed from aenachs, gatherings  of freemen permitted by Irish law for the purpose of commerce and games, long before the development of towns in Ireland. Fairs were held on feast days or on the moveable feasts of Easter and Whitsun.

The combinatination of religion, commerce and gaming was a recipe for trouble. In the eyes of the state (under Queen Anne, the last of the Stuarts) Popery was the problem and a law was passed imposing fines and whippings on people involved in Popish rites at holy wells.

The church was appalled at the ‘moral holiday’ that followed the religious part of a pattern. The supression of Popery and the subsequent lack of religious control meant that patterns degenerated into occasions of lawlessness and bloodletting.

Donnybrook fair is infamous for the faction fighting that is associated with it but this was a feature of many partterns throughout the country. It gets worse.

In 1824 Mrs Hall described the pattern at Ronogues Well near Cork as a gathering of the ‘worthless and dissipated of the whole county.’ Superstitious rites were followed by ‘every sort of debauchery  … dancing, shouting, courting, drinking and fighting.”

Many patterns were suppressed or abandoned. Tullaghan, Liscannor, Brandon and Glendalough were all famous for their patterns but are now silent. Croagh Patrick, Puck and Ballinasloe rank amongs the survivors in terms of scale and tradition.

After emancipation the clergy tried to restore some patterns. In 1868 Bishop Moriarty of Kerry organised a pilgrimmage to Teampuilín (Teampaillín) Breannain on Mount Brandon.

Brandon has been regarded as a sacred place for thousands of years. It is one of three great pilgrimage mountains on the West coast of Ireland (Croagh Patrick and Slieve League being the others) and its patron joins Patrick and Brigid in the trinity of great Irish saints.

It is one of the last places in Europe where the setting sun can be seen and according to Máire Mac an tSaoi, it was one of the main sites used to celebrate the victory of Lugh, the god of light, over Crom Dubh, the force of darkness.

A harvest festival took place on the eve of Lughnasa – on Domhnach Crom Dhubh, the last Sunday in July. Bishop Moriarty moved the date of the pilgrimmage forward by a month to emphasise the Christian aspect of the new festival but the message was lost on the 20,000 people who are reported to have gathered there.

The pilgrimmage / pattern was abandoned after outrageous scenes of drunkeness and  debauchery were witnessed, ending one of the longest and most important festivals in West Kerry. Despite this, efforts continue to revive the pattern as a pilgrimmage on the last Sunday of June.

This led to the formation of one of the oldest mountaineering clubs in the country. Tralee Mountaineering Club was founded by Tom Finn, Pat and Sean Kelly and Ger Hogan in 1954, following a pilgrimmage to Mount Brandon.

The club gathers on Brandon every St. Stephen’s Day for the sport of it, the link with the pilgrimmage is long gone. But the spiritual dimemsion of these remote and difficult places is never lost on mountaineers.

This year a handful of intrepid walkers braved appalling conditions to accompany Ang Wong Chu to the summit of Brandon. A mass was celebrated in the teeth of wind and rain by Fr. Seamus McKenna. The idea of mountains as sacred places was marked in the tradition of  pilgrimmage and in the spirit of an aenach.

Lugh (despite his absence on the day), Brendan and Chomolungma were acknowledged in the same way that the line between celtic beliefs – paganism – and early Christian practices were blurred in the 6th century:  the Christians had spun it so that Brendan, son of Finn Lug, was connected to the Celtic pantheon.

It still hapens. Many within the church of Rome have sought to use ‘Celtic spirituality’ as a foil to a growing sense of crisis within the Irish church, tapping into a tradition of holy places that are essentially pre-Christian and of the people.

Our Lady’s Well in Ballyheigue was enclosed and a grotto was added in 1934. In 1946 the Pattern was still going strong with the usual array of sidestalls and ‘amusements.’  In the 1950s Fr. James Enright re-vitalised the pattern, making sure that  the religious dimension was to the fore.

In the 1990s it was one of the few patterns left with a “vibrant religious character” according to Bryan McMahon. It continues to attract thousands of people to Ballyheigue every 8th September.

The well and the ‘rounds’ are thoroughly Christianised and the hope of an intercession or miracle is severely religious. There is another well nearby that remains much more pagan in attitude, despite being developed under the direction of a local priest.

Tobar na Súl or Dahalins’ Well as it is known is located about 2 miles along the road, in a hollow 300 yards or so from the River  Shannon. Its is named for Daithlionn, a sainted lady of the 6th Century, daughter of  Erc (a bishop and mentor of Brendan) and friend of St Brigid. It is also known as Brigid’s Well.

Legend has it that Daithlionn and her sisters were threatened by marauders and she blinded them. When they repented she instructed them to bathe their eyes in the well and their eyesight was restored. The origin myth and folklore are unmistakeably pagan.

The well is occupied by a fish, a story that is common to many wells. In Celtic mythology goddesses could take the shape of a fish and arrive in the well in water that originates in the otherworld. Those about to be cured would see the fish.

If the fish was removed the water wouldn’t boil. Anyone who dispoiled the well suffered badly. Billy ‘Laimhín’ Crosby had his hand withered, his dog went mad and bit him. He was seen afterwards standing on a ditch and barking at passers-by.

Or so legend has it. 15 cenuries later people are still drawn to Daithlionn’s well in the hope of a cure. And, in case you didn’t take the example of Laimhín Crosby seriously, a stone carving of  a head was recently returned to Saint Ciaran’s well in Clonmacnoise. It was taken in 1998 and the person who took it has had “awful bad luck” ever since.

Jack Donovan’s miracle comes as no surprise to those who have a devotion to Mary and her sisters in the otherworld. The high places of Ireland draw more people than ever before, gathering in places that have focussed the spirit of the Irish people for thousands of years.

Scratch an Irish Christian and you’ll find a pagan. They haven’t gone away you know.