(11)Máméan Trail

Discover the Máméan pilgrimage site on the Sheep and Wool Trail Sheep and Wool Trail Map

High in the Maum Turk Mountains lies Máméan “the pass of the birds” . It is a rugged and ancient pilgrimage route rich in spiritual and geological history. Legend tells that St. Patrick climbed this trail through Joyce Country and gave Connemara his blessing. Today, visitors walk that same path, taking in spectacular views of the Twelve Bens and Maum Turks, often alongside grazing sheep on the hillsides

The trail leads to a 5th-century pilgrimage site that includes a holy well, stone circles marking the Stations of the Cross, and a mass rock used during penal times. A small stone chapel stands beside Leaba Padraigh (St. Patrick’s Bed) where the saint is believed to have rested. Overlooking the site, a statue by Cliodna Cussen shows St. Patrick as a shepherd, a lamb resting at his feet. It is a fitting symbol for a region where sheep still roam freely in the landscape.

Place of pilgrimage

Long before Christian times, this was a site of Lughnasa festivals. In the 19th century, crowds from Connemara and Joyce Country made the pilgrimage. But faction fighting and poitín led to its decline. It was revived in the 1980s by Fr. Micheál Mc Gréil. And remains an important pilgrimage site with events held on St. Patrick’s Day, Good Friday, and the first Sunday in August.

The Máméan Pilgrimage Trail in the Joyce Country Western Lakes Geopark  and part of the Western Way.  The Western way is part of the International Appalachian Trail . Along the Máméan Geo-trail, you walk across quartzite, marble, and schist. Rocks formed 450 million years ago, once part of a vast mountain range that linked Ireland with North America.

Turas go Mám Éan

Tá Mám Éan suite go hard i Sléibhte Mhám Thoirc, agus tá turas oilithreachta  anseo ó chianaois. De réir béaloideas shiúil Naomh Pádraig an bealach seo trí Dhúiche Seoighe agus is as seo a bheannaigh sé Conamara. Sa lá atá inniu ann, siúlann cuairteoirí an turas céanna, ag baint taitnimh as radhairc iontacha ar na Beanna Beola agus Sléibhte Mám Thoirc. Agus caoirigh ag innilt ar na cnocáin mar chomhluadar.

Is láthair oilithreachta é anseo ón 5ú haois, ina bhfuil tobar beannaithe, Turas na Croise, agus Carraig an Aifrinn a úsáideadh le linn aimsir na bPéindlí. Tá séipéal beag in aice le Leaba Phádraig, áit a ndeirtear gur lig an naomh scíth. Ag féachaint anuas ar an suíomh tá dealbh a rinne Cliodhna Cussen sa bhliain 1986.  Léirionn sé Naomh Pádraig mar aoire, uan ina luí ag a chosa. Is siombail oiriúnach é do cheantar ina bhfuil tógáil caorach fós tábhachtach.

Roimh theacht na Críostaíochta, bhí Mám Éan ina láthair chun Lúnasa a cheiliúradh. Sa 19ú haois, tháinig sluaite ó Chonamara agus ó Dhúiche Seoighe le chéile ach tháinig laghdú air de dheasca troideanna agus poitín. Rinne An tAth. Micheál Mc Gréil athbheochan ar an oilithreacht sna 1980idí agus is láthair thábhachtach fós í inniu, le himeachtaí ar Lá Fhéile Pádraig, Aoine an Chéasta, agus an chéad Domhnach d’Iúil.

Tá Slí Oilithreachta Mhám Éan suite i nGeopháirc Dhúiche Seoighe & Lochanna an Iarthair agus is cuid Slí an tIarthar í. Is cuid den International Appalachian Trail í an tSlí an tIarthar. Ar Shlí Gheolaíoch Mhám Éan, siúlann tú ar grianchloichít, marmar agus siosta — carraigeacha a cruthaíodh 450 milliún bliain ó shin, tráth a bhí Éire ceangailte go geolaíoch le Meiriceá Thuaidh.