- Croagh Patrick (The Reek): This conical mountain, rising 764 metres above Clew Bay, has been a sacred site for over 5,000 years, with evidence of pre-Christian ritual use dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. It became profoundly associated with St Patrick, who is said to have fasted and prayed on its summit for forty days and nights in the 5th century, banishing serpents from Ireland. It remains Ireland’s most famous pilgrimage mountain, with thousands climbing it annually, especially on Garland Sunday (last Sunday in July), for spiritual renewal and penance.
- Knock Shrine: The site of a Marian apparition in 1879, when fifteen witnesses saw the Virgin Mary, St Joseph, St John the Evangelist, and a lamb on an altar, Knock has grown into one of Ireland’s foremost pilgrimage centres. The apparition church, Basilica of Our Lady Queen of Ireland, and grounds draw millions seeking healing, prayer, and devotion, embodying modern Marian pilgrimage in a landscape of enduring faith.
- Ballintubber Abbey: Founded in 1216, this Augustinian abbey—known as “the abbey that refused to die”—has hosted continuous worship for over 800 years. Tradition holds that St Patrick baptised converts here in the 5th century and established an earlier church. It serves as the starting point for the ancient Tochar Phádraig pilgrim path to Croagh Patrick, attracting visitors for its historical continuity and peaceful sacred atmosphere.
- Aughagower (with St Patrick’s Well and monastic site): This ancient site includes a holy well linked to St Patrick, who is said to have stopped here during his journeys. The area features church ruins and a pattern associated with the saint, blending early Christian devotion with possible pre-Christian significance in the landscape. It draws pilgrims for rounds and prayers at the well, honouring Patrician traditions.
- Céide Fields: One of the world’s most extensive Neolithic landscapes, this prehistoric site beneath the boglands of north Mayo dates to around 3500 BCE, featuring stone-walled fields, dwellings, and megalithic tombs. It represents a profound pre-Christian ceremonial and agricultural reverence for the land, offering visitors a window into Ireland’s ancient spiritual connection to nature and community.
- Caher Island (Cahermore): A small island off the Mayo coast with a 6th–7th-century early Christian monastic settlement, including church ruins and a holy well. Linked to traditions of early Irish saints and pilgrimage, it features Leabaidh Phadruig (Patrick’s Bed), a stone reputed to cure epilepsy when slept upon. The remote island evokes the ascetic monastic life of Ireland’s saints and attracts those seeking solitude and spiritual reflection.
- St Deirbhile’s Well (Dabhach Dheirbhile), Fál Mór, Belmullet Peninsula: Dedicated to St Deirbhile (Dervla), an early Irish saint known for her legend of self-sacrifice and miraculous restoration of sight, this holy well is a serene pilgrimage spot famed for cures, especially eye ailments. Set in a striking coastal landscape with a beautifully constructed shrine, it continues to draw devotees for prayer, rounds, and offerings.
- St Mary’s Well (Tobar Mhuire), near Rosserk Abbey: One of Ireland’s most evocative holy wells, this Marian site features a stone wellhouse, a thorn tree adorned with rosaries and offerings, and an 18th-century chapel ruin. Long associated with apparitions of the Virgin Mary and healing, it remains a transfixing place of popular devotion and pilgrimage, where visitors leave tokens in quiet reverence.
County Mayo:
Ireland’s county Mayo offers dramatic scenery and ancient heritage, with the Cliffs of Moher’s rugged beauty and Croagh Patrick’s pilgrimage trail providing stunning vistas. The town of Westport features Georgian architecture and access to Clew Bay’s islands, while the Ceide Fields showcase a prehistoric farming landscape. Other attractions include the celebrity beaches of Achill Island. Mayo is Ireland’s third largest county by size (5,398 square km) and 18th largest by population (137,970). Population peaked at 388,887 in 1841 and reached its lowest point, 109,525 in 1971. In terms of hospitality, Mayo is Ireland’s tenth most visited tourist county with around 218,000 international visitors per year.
Introduction – Adventure – Anthem – Archaeology – Attractions – Awards – Birdwatching – Camping – Castles – Churches – Contact list – Cycling – Dining – Equestrian – Festivals – Fishing – Folklore – Gardens – Golf – Graveyards – Happening – Haunted – Highest – Hiking – History – Holy Wells – Hotels – Hotels8 – Instagrammable – Itineraries – Largest town – Luxury – MICE – Movies – Musicians – Name – New – Novelists – Off the beaten track – Poets – Pubs – Quotes – Random Facts – Restaurant Awards – Sacred Places – Saints – Spas – Sports – Sunsets– Sustainable – Things to do – Towns – Video – Villages – Walking – Wanderlist – Weddings – Wild swimming – Writers – 1837 – 1846 – 1852 – 1909 – 1955 – 1980 –
Sacred Places
Antrim – Armagh – Carlow – Cavan – Clare – Cork – Derry – Donegal – Down – Dublin – Fermanagh – Galway – Kerry – Kildare – Kilkenny – Laois – Leitrim – Limerick – Longford – Louth – Mayo – Meath – Monaghan – Offaly – Roscommon – Sligo – Tipperary – Tyrone – Waterford – Westmeath – Wexford – Wicklow
