Lentorama 2012: Know Your Diocese


Day 23: Archdiocese of Tuam


Covering a wide swath of western Ireland, it includes Ballyhaunis, the town my great grandfather left to come to  America.

The archdiocese traces its roots to a diocese which tradition holds was founded by a St. Jarlath in the 6th century. There's not much of bio on him, but it appears he may either be the son of the founder of Tuam or a bishop of Armagh. Or both conflated over time. In any case, he's said to have arrived at Tuam when, on the advice of St. Brendan, he rode in a chariot until its rear axles broke, a sign that he was to stay put in that location.

Tuan is home to two of the more popular pilgrimage sites in Ireland, Knock Shrine and Croagh Patrick. The former was the site of an apparition in the 1870s, but became internationally famous a century later when the monsignor in charge of the shrine made some major improvements and got the government to build an airport. John Paul II visited in 1979, which helped raise the profile, too. The latter site is a large hill where St. Patrick was believed to have fasted for 40 days before building a church. It's also apparently home to potentially profitable deposits of gold and quartz, but for now no mining.