Mass Rock Sites of:
County GALWAY
Cathaoir an Easpaig, Ballylogue
Ordinations took place in the bog at Ballylogue in Penal times, presided over by Bishop Tadhg Keogh and latterly Bishop Murtagh Donelan. In 1976 the area was fenced off with railings by Father Peter Dunne and a chair made from grave slabs by Johnnie Hardiman of Gortavoher. In the same year, confirmations took place under an awning performed by Bishop Thomas Ryan.
Ballybrit Mass Rock
This Mass Rock is made up of three rocks. They are surrounded by a metal fence and stand near the finishing post of Ballybrit Racecourse. When Pope John Paul II visited Ireland in 1979, the papal Altar was erected over the Mass Rock when he celebrated Mass with the youth of Ireland on 30th September.
The site is known locally as Gort na nAltóra and there is a Mass Path that is still used on race days that leads to the site.
The Mass Rock is mentioned in the following book accessed at the Hardiman Library Archives at NUI Galway: Ó Laoi, Paidraic (1996) History of Castlegar Parish. Galway: self-published.
Please seek permission from the landowner before entering the site.
The Irish Times reports that, in 1954, 30,000 attended a Rosary Rally at the site to appeal for a greater devotion to the Family Rosary.
My sincere thanks to Mary McGrath for additional information and for ensuring access to the site.
Site is signposted from the road. A path leads to the site along the field boundary but please ask landowner’s permission before entering the site.
The ordination site is mentioned in the following book accessed at the Hardiman Library Archives at NUI Galway: Kelly, D (2014) Loughrea. A Parish History. Dublin: The History of Ireland Press.
Coldwood Mass Rock
The Mass Rock in Coldwood is situated within a Turlough and is easily accessible from the road.
It is known locally as Creg an Aifrinn and local folklore mentions a sycamore tree in the Turlough in the shape of a human hand.
This information is taken from
http://homepage.eircom.net/~coldwoodns/localhistorycoldwood.html
Site Co-ordinates: 53°15'11.07"N -8°48'55.03"W
Cluide Mass Rock, County Galway
This site was identified from Higgins (1990) publication The White Canons, Abbeytown Cill-na-Manach. A History of the Monastery of The White Canons and Other Historical Places in the District of Maigh Seola. Galway: Crowsrock Press (Higgins 1990, 93).
Situated on Private Land
