Sarah MacDonald
Thousands of pilgrims hiked up Ireland’s holiest mountain for the annual Reek Sunday pilgrimage, held for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The pilgrimage is traditionally held on the last Sunday of July, but it was postponed in 2020 and 2021 over concerns that COVID-19 would spread among more than 20,000 people who climb the mountain’s narrow pathway on that day.
The name “Croagh Patrick” comes from the Irish/Gaelic “Cruach Phádraig,” meaning “Patrick’s Stack.” The mountain is known locally as the Reek, from the word stack.
On 31st July, Mass was celebrated on the summit every hour from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for pilgrims from Ireland and beyond who made the more than 4-mile ascent up the 2,500-foot-high mountain.
At the 10 a.m. Mass in Gaelic, Bishop Fintan Monahan of Killaloe prayed for road safety after a recent spike in fatalities on Irish roads. Priests also heard confessions.
In his homily at St. Mary’s Church in Westport, about five miles from Croagh Patrick, Archbishop Francis Duffy of Tuam reminded parishioners that the origins of Reek Sunday lie with St. Patrick, “the apostle of the Irish” who played a central role in helping to spread the Christian faith on the island. St. Patrick’s fast for 40 days on Croagh Patrick in A.D. 441, he said, was reminiscent of Moses’ 40 days on Mount Sinai, where he received the Ten Commandments from God.
“Pilgrims come here, retracing St. Patrick’s steps, this weekend and throughout the year, for a variety of reasons; each pilgrim knows his or her own (reason),” he said.
Breda Tumelty of the Legion of Mary in Westport said Reek Sunday is one of the biggest events of the year for local Catholic organisations. Some pilgrims include “rounding rituals”-praying while walking clockwise around features on the mountain. Another ritual is climbing barefoot.
Micheál Ó Gallachóir of Ardee did the climb over sharp rocks in his bare feet. Asked why, he responded: “As an act of penance-it is no good if I am not getting any pain out of it. It hasn’t been too bad. This is probably my 10th time doing it in my feet, and I’ve never got a cut-maybe a little blister.”
He said he was commemorating his grandfather, who was arrested on Croagh Patrick 100 years ago during the Irish Civil War. He also explained that his son was born at the start of the pandemic.
“I bring him to Mass every Sunday, and I would love to bring him on this pilgrimage one day,” he said.
Picture: Pilgrims attend Mass at the summit of Croagh Patrick during the first Reek Sunday climb of the mountain since the pandemic hit in this photo from County Clare, Ireland, 31st July 2022. (CNS photo/Oisin Walsh, Catholic Communications Office)