Saint Attracta: a woman of great powers

I like the idea of the traditional saints, the early Christian teachers, whose stories have survived through the ages. We can make of these stories what we will but they all contain essential elements. They remind us about such things as faith, resilience and bravery in the face of danger – you know, the kind of things that are essential in our everyday lives.

St Attracta was one such saint and she is one that had many associations with the Ox Mountains and its surrounding parishes. Her story varies from one source to another but common to them all is her kindness and her ability to overcome evil. The Ox Mountain may not have a patron saint or a guiding goddess, but if we were having an election, St Attracta would get my vote.

Glenavoo 

My first interest of St Attractra stems from a holy well that is dedicated to her. The well is situated in the townland of Glenavoo, (also Glenawoo, Gleann na bhfuath, valley of the monster), near Lough Talt. I have visited the well, in the heart of the mountains, and it does indeed exude energy and mystery. Local people have held this site in high esteem for generations and particular devotions took place there each year on the last Sunday in July. St Attracta’s feast day, incidentally, is on August 11. I checked the National Folklore Collection from 1938 to see what people knew about the saint and her well in the past. The following is an anonymous contribution from Cloonacool NS.

Saint Attracta’s holy well is the nearest well to this parish. It is in the parish of Kilmactigue. It is on the side of a hill and it is always the same for it never dries up or over flows. A large ash tree overhangs it just like an umbrella. The story goes that there was a serpent in this part of the parish and at night he used to come along the roads and carry away men and women that were coming from fairs and markets in Ballina or Sligo and devour them under the trees.

House of Hospitality 

But who was Attracta? Was there such a person, and if so, when and where did she actually live, and how did her story survive to this day? Like all the traditional saints, her life story is a mixture of the ordinary and the extraordinary, supposition and fantasy.

Attracta, described as a “hermitess and co-worker with St Patrick”, was also known as Araght or Taraghta. She is the patron saint of the parishes of Locha Techet (Lough Gara) and Tourlestrane (Kilmactigue) in Co Sligo. She is reputed to have been a daughter of a noble Irish family. Her father opposed her religious vocation but Attracta went to St Patrick at Coolavin, near Monasteraden in Co Sligo, and made her vows to him. St Patrick is said to have founded a nunnery there and appointed Attracta its first abbess. Her convent had a reputation for hospitality and charity to the poor.

This convent was situated in what is now the old cemetery at Killaraght, between Monasteraden and Boyle in the parish of Gurteen. There are historical references to it from the 5th century up as far as 1594. Additionally, and this could be a duplication, it is said that Attracta founded a hospice at Killaraght. Legend has it she also performed miracles, while living at Drum, near Boyle, where her brother Conal had established a church at a place now called Drumconnell.

Another account states that Conal, who is also described as her half-brother, refused to let her settle near him because he had resolved to avoid the company of women. She, in turn, is said to have cursed him for this reproach. A neat potted history of Attracta is provided by St Attracta’s Senior NS from Meadowbrook in Dundrum near Dublin – there must be an Achonry connection there.

St Attracta was born in Sligo around the year 420 A.D. At the age of 16, she decided to dedicate her life to God and joined St Patrick’s workers. She soon became the abbess of a convent which she founded beside Lough Gara. 

Attracta had a special concern and care for those who travelled long journeys. She wanted to found a place where travellers from all over could find warm hospitality. In those days there were no paved road and travelling was difficult. She established a house of hospitality or ‘Bruigheen’ in Killaraght. We know that this house was used for hospitality for over 1,000 years. She was a very warm and holy woman.

Stained glass 

I was intrigued a few years ago to see a request on a local social media forum from a woman who was doing a research project on St Attracta. Annemarie Latour is a Dutch freelance writer and folklorist, who has been fascinated by the lives of early Irish saints ever since she heard Professor Pádraig Ó Riain lecture on the subject at University College Cork in the 1990s.

Annemarie was looking for images of stained-glass windows from any churches in the region who might have such artwork dedicated to the saint. I offered to help and headed off one evening to find as many as I could. I quickly discovered there were quite a few such back-lit displays, one more beautiful than the next, in the churches in and around the Ox Mountains. When planning this piece, I got back to Annemarie to ask for her thoughts on St Attracta. She duly obliged.

Attracta is one of the early Irish female saints whose lives, history and folklore I am currently researching. I discovered that, despite changing religiosity in Ireland, Attracta’s legacy is still present in the Diocese of Achonry and even beyond its borders. Kneeling stones, holy wells and stained-glass windows, to name but a few, have survived in relatively large numbers. They remind us of Attracta’s story, which has charity and hospitality at its core - themes ever so relevant to today’s political and social landscape.

Sometimes, I came upon unexpected archaeological finds, such as a ‘kneeling stone’, known as Gluinaraght, on which Attracta had supposedly knelt so often that her knees had left depressions in stone. It appeared that the kneeling stone, which lies within a small U-shaped structure known as ‘Attracta’s House’, is hidden in woodland not far from Boyle. Few people know of its existence, but one local man recognised the kneeling stone from an old, rather primitive drawing made in 1933.

Great powers 

During the penal times there were no resident bishops and it was the people themselves who kept the faith through pilgrimages and pattern days at holy wells. The time of year is approaching when St Attracta comes into her own. Whether you choose the last Sunday in July or her feast day of August 11, there is a connection to be made with this “warm and holy woman”. The conclusion of the 1938 folklore contribution referenced earlier provides more information about her great powers. Interestingly, it also gives details of the prayers to be included in the ritual, or pattern, when visiting her holy well at Glenavoo. Maybe this could be the year to reinvoke her great powers.

The people heard of Saint Attracta’s great powers and sent for her. She came and found the reptile under the trees and killed him. The next morning when the people came, they found the serpent killed and the holy well pumping up beside him. From the eleventh of August until the end of the month, any people suffering from any disease go there on three different days. The prayers said are three rosaries. One is to be said kneeling down, one walking round the well three times and the last one, kneeling down by the well. Then you drink three cups of water.