Walking in the footsteps of St Brochan

A big crowd gathered for this year's Heritage Week event hosted by the Bracknagh Heritage Society. Following on from last year's success of winning the Offaly county award and coming second nationally, the society built on their previous event at St Brochan's Well, Clonsast, Bracknagh.

This year in keeping with the theme of Heritage Week ‘Connections, Routes & Networks’ the society held a day where the community came together to ‘Walk in the footsteps of St Brochan’.

Gathering at the site of St Brochan's monastery ruins, Mary Briody introduced the chairperson Pat Carey who gave an informative talk on St Brochan’s time in Clonsast. Pat told how Cloansast is believed to have been one of the most important learning centres in Ancient Ireland and how St Brochan was renowned as a scribe. It has been said his manuscript, Leabhar Bearcháin, is on a par with the Book of Kells. Sadly today the whereabouts of this book is unknown. During his time here St Brochan became a bishop and he was credited with being one of Ireland's four chief prophets.

We also learned of the impact his monastery had on the local area. The monks have been accredited with the introduction of tillage farming in Clonsast and provided healing and curative services to the local community. Pat explained that in a field next to the monastery site lies St Brochan’s Bulláun stone, which is believed to hold the cure for headaches. This stone has been visited for centuries and still people come today to seek its cure.

Mary Briody then invited the land owner Derek Whittle to say a few words on the more recent history of the land the monastic site sits on. Following this the people were invited to walk together in ‘The Footsteps of St Brochan’, in a candle lit procession along the 1km route to St Brochan's well.

At the Well, Fr Sean Hyland and Rev Alan Melbourn unveiled a new heritage sign. The sign gives a brief history on St Brochan and a poem written by the society's secretary Mary Crotty ‘Among the Whitethorn’, dedicated to the life of St Brochan in Clonsast.

The event was accompanied by the local choir and finished off with a cup of tea and a chat. There was a great mix of generations brought together in celebration of this hugely important monastic site during Heritage Week 2024

Committee members: Chairperson; Pat Carey; Secretary; Mary Crotty; Treasurers; Tony Donnelly & Barry Cunningham. Health & Safety Officer; Aidan Briody; Members Mary Briody, Frances Cunningham