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Saint Patrick: How Croagh Patrick got its name
Below
is an extract from Galway
Bay Folk Tales,
the new book written by Rab Swannock Fulton and illustrated by Marina Wild.
The book retells the dark and strange myths, folklore and urban legends of
Galway and the west of Ireland.
The following is an account of Saint Patrick’s fight against pagans on Cruachán
Aigli, the hill that would be later known as Croagh Patrick.
When finally Patrick
stepped a foot on the ground before Cruachán Aigli, pagan resistance erupted
all around him, before, after, below and above him, with a savage and desperate
ferocity. Druids and Immortals cast abominable spells, giants hurled rocks and
witches used the subtlest of deceits. Satan and the Sea throw in their lot
shrouding the landscape in terrible poisonous vapours. Patrick walked through
it all, his love and grief blazing like a fire.
In the higher ramparts of Cruachán
Aigli pagan scholars and students trembled behind the walls, whilst young
guards gripped their weaponry and vowed to fall in the sacred hills
defence. Through fire and mist the
figure of Patrick was glimpsed drawing hourly closer. The terror that assailed him was reflected
back a thousand fold on his enemies and spread out north, south, east and
west.
The
pagans in the upper reaches now trembled and wept with fear as terrible reports
and rumour fell amongst them cold and sharp as winter hail: every assault on
the enemy only made him stronger; beyond Galway Bay the beautiful magical horse
children of the original defeated Tuatha Dé Danann hurled themselves screaming
off the cliffs above the spitting roaring Atlantic; the worlds beyond this were
in chaos as Divinities struggled to agree stratagems, some vowing eternal war,
others vanishing into dreams, a handful advocated switching sides to Christ, if
only to avoid warfare without end.
Patrick
reached the final ramparts, but met no resistance there. His triumphs had subdued the few pagans that
remained behind the stone walls. Soon
Patrick was on the peak of the hill, the connecting point between this world
and the realms beyond. Determined to cleanse the site of all traces of foul
paganism, he vowed to fast there for forty days. The enemies of Christ attempted a final assault,
but the great black birds that attacked the praying Patrick were pushed back by
a glittering host consisting of angels and souls of the Saved.
Over
the days and weeks of his fasting, peace came to Cruachán Aigli and the
witnesses who witnessed the old man fasting on the hill top gladly converted to
Christ. The site of the evangelist’s
triumph was soon referred to by the new devote name of Croagh Patrick. On the
fortieth day Patrick, weak from hunger and thirst, stood up. Leaning on his
crook he raised his right arm and began to slowly turn in a circle. His gaze
and blessing reached across the entire island and soon nearly all the Irish
willing embraced God’s light.
But
Patrick’s triumph was not quite complete. As he turned around on the top of
Cruachán Aigli he stumbled and so it was that his holy favour did not quite
reach all the island’s inhabitants. The unblessed remained resolutely pagan - a
malign cancerous presence in the pure Christian body of the Irish. Was it simply age and battle weariness that
caused Patrick to stumble, or had some pagan demon tripped him as a final jest?
Another
possibility is that Patrick himself was to blame. That when he fasted he was
not humble enough before God’s power and grace. When the glittery host had
saved him from the shrieking birds it was observed that one of the lights had
momentarily alighted beside Patrick, placed a hand on his shoulder and
whispered. ‘Enough.’ But the triumphant Patrick was determined to finish his
fast and in this endeavour become the equal of Moses, Elijah and Christ.
The places remaining in the snare of Satan and paganism were said to include Erris in Mayo and Dunquin in Kerry. Of graver consequence was the failure to convert to Christ the three islands separating Galway Bay from the Atlantic.
The places remaining in the snare of Satan and paganism were said to include Erris in Mayo and Dunquin in Kerry. Of graver consequence was the failure to convert to Christ the three islands separating Galway Bay from the Atlantic.
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For details
see Galway Bay Folk Tales on Amazon.
For more about Rab, go to his blog.
with Rab Swannock Fulton
