St. Colmcille, (521AD – 597AD) one of Ireland’s greatest saints was born at Gartan, baptised in Templedouglas and first went to school in Kilmacrennan. For our second Field Day of 2010, Christy Gillespie, Principal of Schoil Cholmcille, An Tearmann, was our guide as we sojourned, “in Colmcille’s footsteps.”
The first stop en route was the newly-constructed Columban monument near the National School, modelled on the abbey at Kilmacrennan. Here we were shown the famous mitred head, said to represent Archbishop Art O’Friel. This is a stone with an absolute wealth of history behind it, eg, it would have witnessed the inauguration of Red Hugh O’Donnell.
One of the most poignant moments of the Field Day was the visit to Ethne’s Well (Ethne was Colmcille’s mother). On the path up to the well, there is a child’s burial ground, marked on the old maps as the Calluragh burial ground. This was the era when babies who died before they received the Sacrament of Baptism were buried close to a sacred place. This site used to be packed on June 9th each year, Colmcille’s feast-day, for a turas. Sadly, that lovely old tradition has long gone.
Then on to Rath Cno, once the home of Colmcille. Later a monastery was erected on the site. In the nearby graveyard, Christy showed us the grave of Manus a Phice (Manus the Pikeman), a great hero of 1798.
The final two venues were Doon Well, probably the most famous holy well in Donegal, and then on to Doon rock with its wonderful panoramic view, once the place of inauguration of each new O’Donnell chieftain. From here, they could survey their entire kingdom from the Swilly to Gweedore. Cahir O’Doherty made his last stand here at Doon to try and keep the Irish way of life alive after the Flight of the Earls, but without success.
The Gartan district is truly spectacular and has been fairly-well spared the concrete intrusion that unfortunately has been the fate of other rural havens. This Field Day complemented the one in Derry last year, with Dr. Billy Kelly as our guide, as we toured the city named in the saint’s honour – Doire Cholmcille.