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Corrin Plaque
Photo by Jim Lysaght |
The Corrin Cross Plaque was placed on the cross in 1933.
It went missing for a number of years but has been returned.
The Plaque, which went missing mysteriously, may have been taken
by someone who was concerned for its safety and who always had
the good intention of returning it. Whatever the case, the plaque
has been replaced, although not quite in the original position.
It is now at the base of the cross.
Many people climb Corrin Hill each day. It is a place of quietness
and serenity with stunning views of Blackwater Valley.
It is strange to think that Corrin, now crowned with the symbol of
Christianity was once a Druidic burial place. Corrin is said to be
the burial place of the Druid, Mogh Ruith. In Irish mythology he was
a powerful blind Druid of Munster who lived on Valentia Island in
Co. Kerry. He could grow to enormous size and his breath caused storms
and turned men to stone. He wore a hornless bull hide and a bird-mask.
He flew in a machine called the Roth Rámach, the "oared wheel". He also
has an ox-driven chariot, a star-speckled black shield with a silver rim
and a stone which could turn into a poisonous eel when thrown into the
water. Some legends say he lived during the reign of Third Century High
King, Cormac Mac Airt, while others put him in Jerusalem during the time
of Christ. The various medieval legends about his adventures in the
Holy Land at the dawn of Christiandom, paint him as a very interesting and
mysterious character and he is said to have been a student of Simon Magus,
who taught him magic skills and helped him to build the Roth Rámach.
In at least two poems, Mogh Ruaith is identified as the executioner who
beheaded John the Baptist, supposedly bringing down a curse on the Irish
people.
However, the most famous story about Corrin probably is the one every
child was told by their parents, which is of the king who had only one son
whose death by drowning was foretold by a Druid. The king decided to
build a castle for his son on the top of Corrin, far removed from the rivers
and streams of the Blackwater Valley. Work commenced on this place of
safety for the king's son but the young boy, while looking into a barrel of
water that had been brought to the summit by the craftsmen, fell in and
drowned, thus fulfilling the prophecy of the Druid.
In the book, "By Bride and Blackwater", by Patrick Barry, it is recorded
that: 'in no other place on the hill, apart from St. Peter's Well, is any
form of spring or well to be found." However, local people know of another well,
a little south of Saint Peter's Well. Saint Peter's Holy Well was once a
place of frequent pilgrimage and even as late as the 1950's there was a path
up to it from what was known as the "Tinny House". At that time, an
abundance of votive offereing decorated the well and the hawthorn tree that
grew over it. Statues, medals and ribbons could be seen all round the well
and people would drink the clear spring water.
Corrin is now planted with trees which cover up many features of the hill,
that people of an older generation would remember. For a long time it was
even thought that the well was lost. However, it is a little off the beaten
track but it is well worth the effort to go and see it. The area is now very
overgrown. There are no longer statues or medals, but the water still bubbles
up from under the same hawthorn tree. It is a haven of peace, quietness and
solitude.
The hill of Corrin has inspired many writers, among whom was John Murphy.
His book, "The Storied Hill of Corrin", records its legends and stories.
Article by Jim Lysaght 21.9.2006
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Corrin Cross |
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© 2003-2006 Paudie McGrath's Photography..
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