Alice Curtayne
Dublin Core
Title
Alice Curtayne
Subject
Lough Derg--Irish Identity--Alice Curtayne--Pilgrim Imaginary
Creator
James L. Smith
Publisher
Digital Derg: A Deep Map
Date
2021
Rights
CC BY, sui generis database
Format
Omeka collection
Language
English
Type
Digital Collection
Coverage
Lough Derg
Collection Items
"An Excursion into the Fifth Century"
The opening paragraph's of Alice Curtayne's 1932 pamphlet about Lough Derg
"All around it is the glint and stir of water"
"Many pilgrims surveying the crowds during the night vigil promise themselves that, on their following night of freedom, they will look down from their cubicle windows at the fascination of the scene, when the people emerge and group themselves in…
"Shaking the very stars with their fusillades of Paters"
The repetitive power of an imagined Celtic Christian pilgrimage and prayer in the context of Irish national myth making
"The stones become doubly slippery and the whole slope acquires a slithery and greasy surface"
"The stone circles [of the Penitential Beds] are small. When this sanctuary was demolished in the seventeenth century the despoilers left only the rude foundation stones protruding from the soil..."
"Recited in the open, while facing the airy spaciousness of mountain, sky and water"
"The repetition of the baptismal vow [before St. Brigid's Cross] is a reaching back again towards baptismal innocence and is the usual ritual of retreats..."
"The shaft on which this iron cross is set is precious, for it was salvaged from the lake"
"The pilgrim then walks to St. Patrick's Cross, a poor but cherished relic made of rude iron and set on a very ancient stone column..."
"A mountain-locked lake that is just as secluded to-day as when Saint Patrick was attracted to its solitude"
A description of the timeless nature of Lough Derg, a window into the early days of Irish Christianity
"Rip Van Winkle whose experience is reversed"
Alice Curtayne describes how traveling to Station Island is like stepping back into the fifth century
The journey of five women returning to Ireland in 1922
"The adventure of a group of five women pilgrims [in 1922] were typical of the times."
"In going there they are answering the call for blood"
"Most pilgrims develop for this rocky island and its harsh routine an affection that really defies explanation..."