11/06/2024

Colmcille ramble - part II
Our rambles around places associated with Colm Cille (Columba) began yesterday in Gartan, Donegal. We ramble today to a place in South West Donegal which is actually named Glen Colmcille. There is a very famous pilgrimage or 'Turas' (thurras) that takes place here every June 9, and there are a host of stories and legends about the saint's appearances here in the Glen- (although there is no historical evidence that he was ever there). Religious pilgrimages were popular in medieval times and while wealthier people found their way to the Holy Land or Rome, local pilgrimages were very important sources of revenue for the early church. It always helped if you could attach pilgrimages to superstar saints like Patrick and Brigid and Colm, and the tradition of celebrating saints' days became very popular, and sometimes, a bit wild! When the reformation came, a stern stop was put to these practices, but of course, banning cultural and religious traditions that were centuries old only made them more popular and they also became associated with traditional values and a sense of Irish nationalism.
Although we call Colm, Brigid and Patrick 'Saints', they would never have been officially canonised, this was a practice that came in long after they went to their heavenly reward. But they are acknowledged as profoundly devout and holy, and active missionaries who built churches and monasteries and inspired many more to go and do Christian preaching and teaching. Legends and stories that could be located in and around the monastic sites, churches and abbeys flourished, with a generous dose of some miracles, magic, myth and hyperbole, and over centuries of repetition on dark winter nights by the fire, who is to say Colm Cille did not banish the demons sent to the Glen by Patrick, or turned poisonous water into curative water, and all the rest?
Anyhow, Glencolmcille has a lot going for it. It is staggeringly beautiful, and it is Irish-Speaking, and as an aside, I'll say some of the nicest people in the universe live there. A very smart priest by the name of Fr. McDyer had the brainwave of creating a folk village, which is an extremely popular tourist amenity, and the popular Oideas Gael School also brings thousands of Irish Language learners to this tiny, gorgeous glen. The turas itself is still very popular, and features 15 'stations' - all stone monuments, and many of them pre-Christian, and the whole enterprise keeps Colmcille very much present in Donegal tradition- whether he was there or not! #glencolmcille #turas #rambles #colmcille #columba #donegal #studyabroadireland