Pattern (devotional)

A pattern () in Irish Roman Catholicism refers to the devotions that take place within a parish on the feast day of the patron saint of the parish, on that date, called a Pattern day, or the nearest Sunday, called Pattern Sunday. In the case of a local folk saint from Celtic Christianity, there may be archaeological remains traditionally associated with the saint, such as holy wells reputed to have healing powers. Often the parish priest will say Mass or lead prayers at such a site, sometimes processing between several locations. In some parishes, Pattern Sunday coincides with Cemetery Sunday, an annual ancestor veneration observance held in cemeteries which typically includes the cleaning and decoration of family graves as well as religious rituals.

Tradition

thumb|Pilgrimage path at Croagh Patrick

The name pattern is a corruption of patron, as in "patron saint".

In the earlier days of the Church, festivities began with religious devotions at the church, but this came to an end with the confiscation and/or destruction of Roman Catholic churches between the 1540s and the 1690s, during the Reformation. By 1700, the devastation was such that very few, if any, churches in Ireland remained under Catholic control and public religious ceremonies almost disappeared. With the passage of the Penal Laws, the institutional church was an outlawed religious society; its churches few, its clergy scarce. With the central location of their devotions gone, people found alternative ways to honour their saint's feast day. While many of the faithful paid homage at the saint's shrine or in the ruins of their local church, most devotions took place at a nearby holy well, celebrated for its curative power. People would “pay rounds” by circumambulating a Holy Well a prescribed number of times in a clockwise or sunwise direction, reciting a rosary during each round, replicating an ancient Celtic rite known as the deiseal. This coincided with a decline in the Irish language and the expansion of popular education. As the Gaelic language and culture waned, the traditional lore and rituals faded as well.

Modern patterns

At one time almost every parish in the country celebrated a patron day, but only a small number still survive. The early 1900s saw a revival in the practice of patterns.

Brideswell Pattern Festival in County Roscommon is on Garland Sunday, the Sunday before Lughnasadh.
Clonmacnoise, on St. Ciaran's Day (September 9)
Tuosist, County Kerry — on the feast of Saint Killian (July 8)
Kilmovee, County Mayo — the Pattern of Urlaur on the feast of Saint Dominic (August 4)
Ballylanders, County Limerick - on the feast of the Assumption of Mary (August 15)
Inishmore, Aran Islands. - Patrún Naomh Éanna. Last weekend of June

References

Sources

External links

Chetwood, William Rufus. "St. Bartholomew’s Day Pattern, Cork City, 1748", Irish Tour, (1748)