There was a great turnout on Tory Hill, one of the highest points in South Kilkenny, for the annual climb on Fraochan Sunday. Members of the South Kilkenny Historical Society joined locals and others taking part in the ancient tradition, which pre-dates Christianity and is associated with the ancient Festival of Lughanasa. Near the hill’s summit, John Dwyer, who has written extensively on Pilgrim Paths of Ireland, gave a talk on the traditions associated with Fraochan Sunday.
Mass was celebrated by the Bishop of Ossory Dr Niall Coll. Christianity, we are told, transformed Medieval Ireland and Bishop Niall Coll of Ossory referred to this in his address to a large gathering. Without the help of a SatNav, people gathered here hundreds of years ago from Pagan Sun God worshippers to the coming of Christianity to present day Christians.
The major players in Medieval Ireland were all involved — from the Vikings, bishops and abbots, to local and national chieftains. The valley below on a beautiful Sunday, when sunshine held much for them — and even Holly Lake, before it was drained to a smaller lake — was of great importance. It was the centre of a struggle for power between Anglo-Norman and Gaelic Lords.
Its landscape was transformed by them, Including invades like Cromwell in the mid 17th Century, while remaining an important spiritual place for locals and small numbers of travellers alike. Religious sites and pilgrimage routes have played a significant role in Irish histor.