There is no day in the year that more purely represents the Irish to the world than St. Patrick's Day on March 17. Ostensibly the feast day of St. Patrick, it is a day that promotes harmony between the earliest symbols of nature religions and those of Christianity. There are few sites that typify that harmony better than the Irish holy mountain of Croagh Patrick.
Located in County Mayo, Ireland, Croagh Patrick is a cone-shaped mountain tipped in white quartz that is also known as "the Reek." The ancient place name of the 726 meter mountain is "Cruachan Aigle." From the summit, the panoramic view overlooks Clew Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
Since Neolithic times, the natural features in Ireland have been venerated. The mountains, valleys, waterways, the very stones bear an indefinable energy that exudes the spirit of divinity.
From ancient times the mountain has been home to the deities of the land. Croagh Patrick provides a home to the presiding goddess of Ireland, Aine. Her consort, the pre-Celtic harvest god Crom Drubh, brings forth Aine's life-giving sheaves of wheat at Lughnasadh.
The ancient celebration of Aoine Chrom Dubh began on the Friday before the last Sunday in July. The three-day festival culminated in a pilgrimage to the summit of Cruachan Aigle on Sunday, known as Domknach Chrom Dubh ("Crom Dubh's Sunday") or "Garland Sunday."
The pilgrimage served the purpose of giving honour and thanksgiving for the first fruits to Crom Drubh and Aine as well as giving pilgrims the opportunity to ask for special favours or blessings. Women seeking to become pregnant slept in Aine's bed atop Cruachan Aigle on Lughnasadh eve. The festival and lovemaking that took place at the foot of the mountain on Lughnasadh was out of joy for the harvest and hope for the future.
With the advent of Christianity, Cruachan Aigle became known as Croagh Patrick and a new deity came to exist on the holy mountain with Crom Drubh and Aine.
As befits any significant mythological figure, the legends that surround St. Patrick are many. St. Patrick's association with Croagh Patrick stems from a tale which describes his battle with a demon Corra, a female fiend. Finally banishing the Corra, St. Patrick offers blessings to the land of Eire and her people and banishes any poisonous reptiles that reside there. St. Patrick held vigil on the mount to deliver the island residents from their heathen ways. The pilgrims that followed thereafter performed penance on their pathway up the mountain to avoid the fires of hell.
Today it is the mythic St. Patrick, rather than the Patrick of history, that people follow. Scholars inform us that the historic Patrick, did not visit the famous sites to which he is attached -- Croagh Patrick, Lough Derg or Tara.
Born around 390 A.D., Patrick was the son of a wealthy upperclass father in southwestern Britain. At age sixteen Patrick was kidnapped by Irish pirates and spent six years in slavery in Ireland. Upon his escape, he arrived in Britain to find himself lacking the education expected of his peers. Patrick obtained his theological training in Britain and was returned to Ireland at the direction of Britain's church authority.
Upon his return to Ireland, Patrick continued the work of earlier missionaries. His life, however, seemed defined by the brutal kidnapping he endured in his youth. His lack of education was a source of dismay for Patrick and late in life he wrote of himself that he regarded himself a "poor and ignorant orphan," an "exile and refugee" who was "very little educated."
As an outcast in Irish society, Patrick wrote "I daily expect either assassination or trickery or reduction to slavery." Despite this, Patrick persevered and dedicated his life's energy to his work. He led a successful mission and died in Ireland around 460 A.D. with no ordained successor.
This man Patrick left his legacy in a life of drama, passion and most of all dedication. It is that indomitable spirit that lives still atop Croagh Patrick, welcomed to that holy ground by the divinities of another age.
Whether you are celebrating the vernal equinox or paying homage to a Saint called Patrick, March 17 gives ample evidence of the enduring spirit of the Irish people and the illumination they have find in their ancient landscape.