St MacDara's Island, Connemara

Overview

For most of the 1980s this island’s little oratory was in everyone’s pocket. The steep-roofed stone church on St MacDara’s Island appeared on a run of five Irish definitive postage stamps issued between 1982 and 1986. The island itself (Irish: Oileán Mhic Dara or Cruach na Cara) is about 60 acres of low granite, grass and fern near Carna in south Connemara, County Galway, rising to a modest 27 metres and long uninhabited. It lies roughly 2.5 km off Mace Head, or 6 km west-southwest of Carna, depending on where you measure from. The Archdiocese of Tuam records the island’s association with St MacDara and the continuing July feast-day tradition.

The stone oratory

Saint MacDara founded a monastery here in the 6th century, most likely a wooden one. The saint’s name is itself a small puzzle: he was born Sionnach (‘fox’), but foxes were reckoned unlucky by Connacht fishermen, so his patronymic MacDara stuck instead, and some scholars hear síon, ‘stormy weather’, in it too.

The stone oratory that replaced the wooden church is usually dated to around the 10th century, though not everyone agrees – one reading puts it as late as the 12th. Either way it is a remarkable survival: a small rectangular church, roughly 4.8 by 3.6 metres, built of massive unmortared granite blocks, with a steep high-pitched roof and projecting antae (the wall-ends) cut to imitate the timber crucks and shingles of an even older kind of building. It was restored in the mid-1970s and is a National Monument. Inside there is a stone altar, a sundial and carved crosses; outside, three penitential stations and the remains of a later shepherd’s bothy.

One story the stones no longer tell: a wooden statue of the saint that once stood here was buried on the orders of the Archbishop of Tuam, sometime between 1631 and 1645, in a fit of anti-idol zeal. It has never been found.

The Feast of St MacDara (Lá Fhéile Mhic Dara)

The quiet breaks on 16 July. MacDara is patron of the fishermen of west Connacht, of the parish of Moyrus and, less predictably, of the new potatoes lifted in July. On his feast day, boats traditionally carry families and fishermen across to the island, currachs and painted Galway Hookers among them. Mass is said in the open air beside the oratory and the boats are blessed, which the fishermen take seriously; as the fleet turns for home, skippers dip their sails three times to the saint, a custom recorded since the 1600s. The day carries on back in Carna with music and a céilí.

It is not a trip to take lightly, and the whole thing turns on the weather. In 1907 a storm caught the pilgrimage and nine people drowned.

Is St MacDara’s Island open to visitors?

There is no scheduled ferry, and this page does not recommend any particular way of landing. The pilgrimage is the traditional occasion for the crossing: check with local organisers for the next arrangements and any weather changes before making plans. Do not try to reach the island on your own account, as sea conditions here change quickly.

For a mainland outing in the area, use the public harbour in Roundstone, a working harbour village with galleries and places to eat.

Nearby attractions

Just inland, Connemara National Park has walking trails through peat bog and mountain, while the Aran Islands are a ferry ride away if you are carrying on island-hopping.

Practical information