Our Lady’s Island Monastery, Rosslare

One of Ireland's two officially recognized Marian shrines, with at least 1,400 years of continuous pilgrimage, a Papal exemption from suppression, and roots that may reach into pre-Christian feminine sacred tradition.

The oldest name for this place is Cluain-na-mBan, 'the meadow of the women.' Some scholars interpret this as evidence of a pre-Christian community of female druids who occupied the island before Christianity arrived. A natural stone formation at nearby Carnsore Point may have served as a druidic altar. Whether or not this interpretation is correct, the site's sacred character clearly predates its Christian identity. In the sixth century, St Abban, nephew of St Ibar, one of Ireland's pre-Patrician missionaries, founded a monastery here and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin Mary. By 600 CE, the island's reputation as a Marian pilgrimage site was established. The Norman lord Rudolph de Lamporte, witnessing the constant stream of pilgrims, granted the island to the Augustinian fathers in 1184. His relative Milo built a castle in 1195, whose tower still stands, leaning but refusing to fall. In October 1649, Cromwell's soldiers murdered the Augustinian priests and desecrated the church. The pilgrimage survived. During the Penal Laws, when Rome itself suppressed Irish pilgrimages, Pope Benedict XIV made a specific exemption for Our Lady's Island, the only pilgrimage in Ireland to receive such protection. In 1897, Fr Whitty re-established the public pilgrimage procession on August 15, and it has continued without interruption since.