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Irish travel: Follow the footsteps of St. Patrick around Ireland

By
PAT PRESTON,
IrishCentral.com Travel Expert
Published Sunday, February 27, 2011, 7:13 AM
Updated Sunday, February 27, 2011, 7:13 AM

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St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin City
St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin City


Records show that Patrick favored Ireland’s west coast, particularly Galway and Mayo. Watching the sun go down on Galway Bay must have been a delight for Patrick, judging from the extent of his work in the county of Galway. Not only did he settle for a while at Moycullen, but he also built a church at Tuam.  Nearby, in County Mayo, Patrick blazed a trail up atop a mountain overlooking Clew Bay near Westport. This site, now known as Croagh Patrick (Patrick’s Mountain), has become a primary place of pilgrimage for Christians. Each July thousands of participants climb “Patrick’s Path” to the summit of this beautiful quartzite ridge to pray.

As much as he loved the West, Patrick is most remembered for his travels around Ulster in Northern Ireland. It was at Armagh that he erected his principal church, giving the city a lasting prominence as the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland. This fact is graphically illustrated today by Armagh’s two St. Patrick’s Cathedrals, one Protestant and the other Catholic, standing on adjoining hills. St. Patrick’s Trian, a visitor center in the heart of the city, brings all the history to life via walk-through exhibits and high-tech audio-visuals.

To round off a Patrick-inspired tour, all roads lead to County Down. It was here – amid the rolling hills, winding seacoast, and legendary Mountains of Mourne – that Ireland’s patron saint started his ministry and later spent his declining days. At Downpatrick, the quiet marketing town named in his honor, the cathedral churchyard reveals the journey’s end for the tireless traveler. Wedged among the elaborate graves, high crosses, effigies, and monuments, stands a lone granite boulder – etched simply with a cross and the name "Patric" in Irish-language lettering. Follow the pathway down from the churchyard to the St. Patrick Centre, a contemporary gathering place that presents an in-depth review of Patrick’s life and legends.

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7 Comments

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russm535il | Mar 12, 2011, 06:52 PM EST
great my mom was Irish we plan to visit

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MarthaAnne | Mar 05, 2011, 04:26 PM EST
I learned, from reading "How the Irish Saved Civilization", that St. Patrick, having been a slave to an Irishman from about age 16 to age 22, made it his lifelong mission to ban slavery from Ireland. He succeeded and is considered to be the first human being known to have worked tirelessly to condemn and erradicate slavery. He was of Roman ancestry and his parents were upper class Roman Christians who had a strong faith.

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jacersagain | Mar 02, 2011, 02:28 PM EST
@angelaOC - there are many many people who were never canonised who are saints in heaven.

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jacersagain | Mar 02, 2011, 02:21 PM EST
Great article above by Patricia... one for me to take note of. I visited St. Patrick’s Grave in Downpatrick last St. Patrick’s Day and saw that big granite rock over his grave. What I didn’t know until that day, and what Patricia could have also mentioned above, is that St. Brigid and St. Columba, Ireland’s first true Apostles after Patrick, are both also buried in St. Patrick’s Grave under that huge rock, thus fulfilling a prophecy that one day all three would rest in peace together.

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angelaOC | Feb 28, 2011, 07:38 AM EST
I'm just worried that he has never been canonised!

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feeneycj | Feb 27, 2011, 01:36 PM EST
thank you St. Patrick

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STUMPTOWN | Feb 27, 2011, 10:00 AM EST
SAINT PATRICK DID BRING GREAT CHANGE TO IRELAND. But in todays Ireland , the young people of Ireland will bring greater CHANGE then ever bearing in mind Ireland's modern history from goverment, economics, education, the sexual abuse of childern by the religious, the church's administration cover up of these sexual abuse crimes of the children etc. The young people of Ireland will change the administration of the church through their actions that the Vatican will not call all the shots as they do today. The religion is not the change but the administration is. The new reformation will begin through the young people for the Vatican has not listen but instead they SILENCE THE TRUTH TO PROTECT THE IMAGE. The change today in counties like Egypt and so on where brought about by the young educated people and you will see it hit the Vatican too from the young Irish and other young people world wide. Has the rock of Saint Peter been erode by the RCC administration over the years? And they though moveable type was bad. What would CHRIST do?

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