The Influence of Croagh Patrick on Faith and Vocations

During a visit to Westport in Co Mayo I came across a very interesting book entitled 'Steps to the Summit' written by retired priest, Fr Tony King. 'Summit' refers to the Holy Mountain - Croagh Patrick - commonly called The Reek that casts a shadow over Westport town and surrounding area.

According to folklore, St Patrick is reputed to have spent 40 days fasting and praying on the mountain which for centuries has been the site for the annual pilgrimage on the last Sunday in July - commonly known as Reek Sunday. Local clergy and longtime pilgrims recall more than 30,000 people climbing in the 1960s and 1970s, even when the pilgrimage was done in darkness. This was the peak era of mass Catholic devotional practice in Ireland.

Since then, the number of pilgrims has been declining in line with the decline in Mass attendance and Catholic practices generally. Whilst Reek Sunday attendance has fallen sharply over past decades - ranging now from 3,000 to 5,000 - the annual attendance on the day is down, while total yearly climbs are up. That's the core historical trend but many people now climb the mountain for health and leisure reasons rather than for religious affiliation.

There is no strong empirical evidence that proximity to major shrines like Lourdes, Fatima, Knock, or Croagh Patrick systematically increases the number of priestly or religious vocations in the surrounding geographic area. However, there is evidence that individual vocations have been inspired at these sites, and that shrines can create environments conducive to vocational discernment - but this is anecdotal, not statistical.

Searches of academic literature, Church statistical reports, and sociological studies show no published research demonstrating that dioceses containing major pilgrimage sites produce more vocations than comparable dioceses without shrines.

Shrines like Knock, Lourdes, Fatima and Croagh Patrick are "vocation-friendly environments" because they create high intensity spiritual experiences; encounters with communal prayer, suffering and service; exposure to religious life through volunteers, clergy/religious and liturgies; and opportunities for silence, retreat and discernment. These factors can influence individuals around priesthood and religious life but they do not necessarily increase local vocation numbers. Indeed, many pilgrims or climbers come from outside the immediate area. The evidence suggests that the "vocation effect" is personal, not geographic.

It was against that background that Fr Tony King, having ministered in Westport from 1970 - 1993 and after ministering in Athenry retired to live in Westport, set out to reflect on the call of women and men in the general Westport area to religious life and priesthood and where that journey took them. As he says in the book, he wanted "to try and gather some scattered glimpses of their varied lives abroad and at home where each one, uniquely different in their gifts and talents, set out to promote the reign of God".

In his well-produced hardback book, he points out that "the amount of information available on some religious and priests is sparse and on others so varied as it came through families and friends, commemorative school and parish booklets". Having edited the MSC Message - the newsletter of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart - for ten years, including profiles of missionaries on the various jubilees of their ordination to the priesthood, and written a book on "The Legacy of Irish Missionaries Lives On", I know exactly what Fr Tony means.

What he calls a "memorial record" is "simply remembering them and giving thanks and appreciating their families and homes, their villages and streets where their hearts and spirits were nurtured… May their lives rekindle the missionary spirit in a new generation".

Writing short profiles on the many priests, nuns and brothers who hailed from the Westport area, Fr Tony reminds us that "The shadows of Croagh Patrick continually coloured their background from the shores of Clew Bay to the summit of the Holy Mountain. Their response to the call and their vision continues to echo in places as far apart as Canberra and California, Korea and Hong Kong, Africa and China".

Visiting him in his home in Westport, he told me that he regards "Steps to the Summit as a mark of my appreciation to the people and priests of this parish for the experience of 30 years amongst them. I was also inspired as I reflected on the parents, families, local communities, their schools and teachers who inspired so many who took the path into religious life and priesthood over the past 200 years. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, it was their faith and generosity, their example and Christian witness that touched their lives and sent them on their journey.

"So many set out across the globe 'carrying the flame' and others kept 'the home-fires burning'. Steps to the Summit offers small glimpses of their lives and where their journey took place. A big number of them have passed on to their eternal rest. May they enjoy the reward of their faithful service. May this Memorial Record help in some small way to create a ripple of inspiration for the present generation".

We will never know how many local young men and women whose faith was formed in the shadow of Croagh Patrick were influenced by the pilgrim mountain to enter the priesthood and religious life, and devote their lives to God and those to whom they ministered in service and devotion. One remarkable feature I noticed when reading through the paragraphs on the various people listed was that in quite a number of families more than one member chose a religious vocation… in some cases up to three.

Another remarkable feature of the Westport area is that the Westport-Aror Partnership - a lay missionary venture - initiated in 1982 is still active 44 years later offering support and a practical expression of a common Christian commitment to a health centre in Aror that was established originally by the Irish Medical Missionaries of Mary.

Aror is a small rural town in the Kerio Valley in northwestern Kenya. The Partnership has allowed the community of Westport to directly influence the healthcare of a community in the developing world. In this way, the wider community of Westport has sought to fulfil its Christian mission to help others. Again, we will never know how in Fr King's words "the rich tradition of faith and pilgrimage this mountain evokes" for local people has influenced their practice of true Christian values.

I was very impressed with this well-written book that records not just what might be termed religious history of the Westport area but also acts as a social history of times past and the faith of families who comprised the parish community. As I know from my own research, it was obviously a painstaking effort by Fr Tony King. It is a fine record of parish history that should be an example and inspiration for other parishes to undertake.

(Matt Moran is an author and writer living in Cork. He has published 'The Legacy of Irish Missionaries Lives On' and 'The Theology of Integral Human Development: the role of faith in international development and public affairs' available from mattmoran2021@gmail.com )