Mass rock

Sandhill Mass Rock site near Dunfanaghy, County Donegal

Mass Rock on Achill Island, County Mayo

A Mass rock (Irish: Carraig an Aifrinn) was a rock used as an altar in mid-17th century Ireland as a location for Catholic Mass. Isolated locations were sought to hold religious ceremonies, as observing the Catholic Mass was a matter of difficulty and danger at the time as a result of both Cromwell's campaign against the Irish, and the Penal Law of 1695. Bishops were banished and priests had to register to preach under the 1704 Registration Act. Priest hunters were employed to arrest unregistered priests and Presbyterian preachers under an Act of 1709.

Similar stones, known as Mass stones, are found in Scotland. While working in the 1880s as a hired farmhand for Robert Menzies of Tirinie, near Aberfeldy, Perthshire, South Uist seanchaidh Angus MacLellan learned that a Mass stone had stood in the middle of Mr. Menzies's farmfield since the days when Roman Catholic priests were outlawed in Scotland. A nearby high cross, Menzies added, marked the site of an important college of learning from the days of the Celtic Church. Mr. Menzies explained that, even though the local population had long since switched to Presbyterianism, former Catholic religious sites were still locally viewed with superstitious awe and were never tampered with. Menzies explained that the term for Mass stones, in the Perthshire dialect of the Scottish Gaelic language, was Clachan Ìobairt, meaning "Offering Stones."

Presbyterians held similar Conventicles and these were also outlawed, even though they were not religious ceremonies.

For Lutherans during the Counter-Reformation in Austria, a similar stone in Paternion was dubbed the hundskirche.

Use and records

In many instances in Ireland, a stone would be taken from a church ruin, and relocated to a rural area, with a simple cross carved on its top. Because the activity was illegal, the services were not scheduled and parishioners would be obliged to spread the word of them informally. By the late 17th century worship generally moved to thatched Mass houses. Some of the Mass rock places may also have been used for patterns.

Partial data on Mass rocks is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of Ireland (for pre-1700 sites), and, to a lesser extent, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (for post-1700 sites).

Later use

In later years, the practice of open-air Masses was limited to rural areas and special occasions such as pattern days and Christmas. However, in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions placed on indoor gatherings to address the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Ireland launched an initiative to celebrate Mass at some Mass Rocks.

Folklore

According to a book of history and folklore associated with Mass rocks by Tony Nugent, "There is a common story associated with quite a few which relates how the priest was shot or killed at the moment of Transubstantiation. There is a common belief that at this point in the Mass the priest cannot stop for any reason. There are various stories of Protestant neighbours hiding or helping priests. There are stories of miracles, the story of the widow's hunger, happening at these sites, stories of cures and indeed a whole fabric of folklore which if lost would be a cultural tragedy".

Nugent also refers to what was reputedly the last killing of a Roman Catholic priest at a Mass rock at Inse an tSagairt, near Bonane, County Kerry, in 1829. According to the story, a local woman who ran a nearby shebeen, conspired with five men to kill a priest and split the £45 bounty among themselves. After capturing the priest during Mass, beheading him at a house near Kenmare, and bringing his severed head to Cork city, the six conspirators learned that Catholic Emancipation had just been signed into law and that no reward would be given. In frustration, the six priest hunters threw the severed head into the River Lee.

See also

• "Have you been at Carrick?" — folk song about attending a Mass rock service
• Mass rocks in Clontibret
• Mass rock (Portglenone)