But Did You Lie Down on the Saint's Grave?

Kilmacduagh (Church of mac Duagh) - we were here a week. I have loads of photos and stories. Sorry.

Kilmacduagh was founded by Colman MacDuagh* (Colman son of Duagh), or so the story goes. He was an early Christian monastic who founded churches around the west of Ireland, including on the Aran Islands. Our landlady, a delightful and devout woman, provided all kinds of information about the area and wanted to make sure we knew about "the saint's grave."

I have read a number of articles about Colman (apparently the soil around the grave is also supposed to be holy), but the landlady said that you lie down on the saint's grave three times and either it cures back problems or you will never have back problems (I forget). One article (I can no longer find) says you only have to do it once.

DH and I looked at each other and then back to the landlady, "Saint's Grave?" we asked. She described the grave - the only one with four yew trees planted around it. Yew trees?** We looked at each other again and shrugged. It couldn't hurt.

Off we went to the cemetery and looked for trees. I think there was only one grave with any trees. It has five Yews, actually. The grave is covered by a stone slab slightly elevated in the middle.

There it is. I thought I had a closeup of the grave, but no.

Now, I have slept "propped up" in bed since May, when I was seized by a particularly violent bout of vertigo. I sighed and lay down. I'm not going to say what or why, but I did notice a strange feeling even as I thought, "What a lovely view!" Down I went, up again and back down. Three times I was flat on my back the length of the slab.***

DH helped me up and he took his turn.

The view from the saint's grave - looking up.

I later suggested it to other visitors to the ruins - "You do know about the saint's grave?" I would ask. I ran into a group of elderly gentlemen in the graveyard one afternoon. I chatted with one fellow who, while from the Gort area, had lived in Amarillo for a time.**** He asked what we were doing in the area. [This is a common inquiry. Many locals don't think there is much to do around Gort. We could have stayed a month more hiking in the woods, parks, and nature reserves, but that's another story.] I shared that we had visited the saint's grave, performed the ritual, and had no back problems so far. He nodded knowingly as another fellow said, "What? I'm a local and I have never heard of this!" before heading over to the Yew bordered grave.

The view after sitting up.

NOTES:

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colman_mac_Duagh

**http://treecouncil.ie/project/yew/

***What could it hurt? [I should note that I have steadfastly refused to do other things - like kiss the Blarney Stone. Of course, that may be because it is unnecessary for me.]

****I'm not sure how it happened, but this lovely fellow CG had served four years in the U.S. Air Force, spending part of that time in Amarillo, Texas.