A Hill of Memories

On the hill of Ardpatrick in Co Louth two saints lived a thousand years apart. One was making a decision that would affect Irish history and the other was hiding from authorities who would eventually execute him at Tyburn.

The first of course was Patrick. He had just completed a lengthy tour of the west of the country and, feeling his age, was thinking of settling down. He was back in the north–east, the area in which he had once served as a slave. There he remembered an area called Cluain Cain, ‘Beautify Meadow’, and thought of settling there. Today you can stand on the spot where he enjoyed looking across that rolling countryside to Slieve Donard and the north.  There he built a hut, a church and a home for ten lepers.

In the valley below him a similarly minded man, Mochta, had already founded a growing community.  He was a fellow Britain and they became close friends. However the day came when they realised one of them should move on, there were other areas in need. Patrick decided his destiny was elsewhere and, entrusting the lepers to Mochta, moved to Armagh. It was to be his final resting place and the future centre of the Irish Church. The hill on which he lived near Mochta’s Louth is still known as Ardpatrick, the Height or Hill of Patrick.

The other man, a thousand years later, was Oliver Plunkett. His influential Norman-Irish family had been split between Protestants and Catholics in the wars for possession of land. He had to leave for Europe to further his education and was ordained a priest in Rome. In 1670 he returned to Ireland, as Archbishop of Armagh, a successor St Patrick.

The early freedom he enjoyed was ended by the persecutions following the so-called ‘Popish Plot’ of 1678. Among his hiding places was Ardpatrick. For a while he was able to continue his work from there as bishop, riding around under the name of Captain William Browne.  Eventually he was arrested, sent to London for trial and executed.

Today pilgrimages to Ardpatrick are focused on Oliver rather than Patrick.  What remains on the site where both lived is in stone and comes from Oliver’s time. Unusual for a church its floor is below ground-level in an effort to hide the building. It is large enough for a living space and chapel. Its feeling of authenticity continues to attract visitors.

It is worth going there for the view, the ‘hideaway’ of Oliver Plunkett and the memory of Patrick with his ten lepers preparing for what the future might have in store.