(University of Oregon, 2011-06) Johnson, Mira C., 1985-
The Reek Sunday Pilgrimage at Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, Ireland is a syncretic event that incorporates official Catholic religious narratives of Saint Patrick, folk narratives of the site's Celtic pagan significance, local histories of the Great Irish Famine of the 19th century and personal narratives with a physical engagement with the landscape to create a spiritual experience. The pilgrimage serves as a performative event that allows participants to formulate and perform alternative spiritualities and identities, blurring the distinctions between pilgrim and tourist, sacred and profane. An emerging tradition at Croagh Patrick illustrates this by emphasizing the historical and national significance of the famine villages along the ancient pilgrimage path, the Tochar Phadraig, embracing these sites, and pilgrimage to them, as sacred.
