Hidden among the hills near Altamuskin, Ballygawley, the Altar Glen is a place where the faith of earlier generations remains written into the land. At its heart is an old Mass Rock, one of the many secluded places across Ireland where Catholics gathered for the celebration of Mass during times of persecution and restriction. The significance of such places in the story of Irish Catholicism is difficult to overstate.

During the Penal era, when Catholic worship faced severe legal restrictions and priests often carried out their ministry in secret, remote glens, hillsides and sheltered places offered communities somewhere to gather around the Eucharist. A natural rock or stone could become an altar, while the surrounding landscape provided shelter and concealment. In these circumstances the celebration of Mass became an extraordinary expression of fidelity, courage and communal faith.

The Altar Glen at Altamuskin carries this memory within the parish of Errigal Ciaran. Generations of local people have preserved the story of the place and the Mass Rock at its centre. What might otherwise appear to be a quiet corner of the Tyrone countryside therefore speaks of a community determined to gather, pray and celebrate the Eucharist even when doing so demanded sacrifice.

The site continues to draw people for prayer and the celebration of Mass. In recent years parishioners have once again walked together to the Altar Glen and gathered around the Mass Rock for the Eucharist, consciously following in the footsteps of those who worshipped there before them. During the Jubilee Year of 2025, for example, pilgrims gathered and walked to the Glen for Mass as Pilgrims of Hope, while the site also formed part of celebrations honouring St Oliver Plunkett.

There is something particularly powerful about celebrating Mass in such a place. The altar is not separated from the landscape around it. Earth, stone, trees and open sky surround the gathered community. Yet the real significance of the Altar Glen lies not simply in its setting, but in the faith of those who came there. They remind us that churches consist first of a people gathered around Christ, and that the Eucharist has sustained Christian communities through periods of hardship, uncertainty and profound change.

For the pilgrim today, the Altar Glen offers a place to remember and to give thanks. Walking into the Glen allows us to recall those who protected and handed on the faith, often at considerable personal cost. Their story asks something of us too: how deeply do we value the faith we have received, and how faithfully will we hand it on?

The Altar Glen at Altamuskin remains a treasured place within the Archdiocese of Armagh. Quiet and unassuming, it bears witness to the resilience of faith and to generations for whom gathering around the altar and encountering Christ in the Eucharist remained at the heart of Christian life.

Set on the slopes of Slieve Gullion, St Monnina’s Well and Old Killeavy Graveyard form one of the most evocative early Christian sites in the Archdiocese of Armagh. The place has been associated with prayer and pilgrimage for well over a thousand years and remains closely linked with St Monnina, also known locally as St Blinne, one of the important women of the early Irish Church.

Tradition holds that Monnina lived during the fifth and early sixth centuries and established her principal religious community at Cill Shléibhe, the “Church of the Mountain”, from which the name Killeavy derives. The community became one of the significant early convents of Ireland. Monastic life endured there through the centuries, despite Viking attack in 923, and in the later medieval period Killeavy became home to a community of Augustinian nuns until its suppression in 1542.

Within the old graveyard stand the remains of two ancient churches. The western church is the older and contains an impressive lintelled doorway, believed to date from the tenth or eleventh century. It is particularly significant as the only surviving pre-Norman church in County Armagh. The adjoining eastern church belongs to the later medieval period and contains a beautiful fifteenth-century east window. A round tower once stood nearby, although it had fallen by the eighteenth century.

On the northern side of the graveyard lies a large granite slab traditionally believed to mark St Monnina’s grave. In earlier times pilgrims taking part in the local Pattern began their prayers here before climbing further up the mountain to her holy well and returning again to the grave for their final prayers. The well remains a place of pilgrimage and devotion and continues to be visited, particularly around St Monnina’s feast day on 6 July.

There is a particular beauty to pilgrimage at Killeavy. The pilgrim moves physically through the landscape, from graveyard and ancient church towards the holy well on the hillside. Prayer, walking, memory and the natural beauty of Slieve Gullion become intertwined. It recalls an ancient Christian understanding of pilgrimage in which the landscape itself helps draw the heart towards God.

St Monnina’s story also gives Killeavy a distinctive place within our Christian heritage. Here we remember a woman whose life centred on prayer, community, practical charity and attentiveness to the Holy Spirit. The tradition associated with her recalls her care for the poor, widows and children, and her desire to build a community in which faith found expression in service to others.

Today, St Monnina’s Well, the ancient churches and Old Killeavy Graveyard continue to welcome pilgrims and visitors. Among these old stones and on the quiet path towards the well, we encounter more than the remains of another age. We encounter the memory of generations who prayed here before us and an invitation, in our own time, to seek God in prayer, creation, community and service.

Nestled in the valley of the River Mattock near Tullyallen in County Louth, Old Mellifont Abbey occupies a special place in the Christian heritage of the Archdiocese of Armagh and of Ireland. Founded in 1142 by St Malachy of Armagh, it was the first Cistercian monastery established in Ireland and became one of the most influential monastic houses of the medieval Irish Church.

The story of Mellifont grew from the friendship between St Malachy and St Bernard of Clairvaux. During his travels on the continent, Malachy visited the great Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux and became deeply impressed by its life of prayer, simplicity and community. Some of Malachy’s companions remained there to learn the Cistercian way of life, and in 1142 they returned with monks from Clairvaux to establish the new community at Mellifont. The local king, Donnchadh Ua Cearbhaill of Airghialla, provided the land and resources needed for the foundation.

Mellifont quickly became an important centre of monastic renewal. Within little more than a decade it had founded several daughter monasteries, and in time many Cistercian houses throughout Ireland traced their origins back to Mellifont. The abbey also hosted the important Synod of Mellifont in 1152, part of the wider reform and renewal of the Irish Church taking place during this period.

The abbey church was solemnly consecrated in 1157, in the presence of the Archbishop of Armagh, numerous bishops and Irish kings and chieftains. Although much of the medieval monastery now lies in ruins, its surviving remains give a sense of the scale and beauty of the community that once flourished here. Particularly distinctive is the remarkable octagonal lavabo, where the monks washed before entering the refectory for their meals.

For the pilgrim, however, Mellifont speaks about more than architecture or medieval history. Its stones recall a community shaped by the rhythm of prayer, work, silence and common life. They also recall St Malachy’s desire for renewal within the Church and his conviction that genuine reform must take root in a deeper life with God.

There is something fitting about visiting Mellifont today and allowing its quieter setting to speak. The remains of cloister, church and chapter house invite us to imagine the generations who prayed the Psalms here, celebrated the Eucharist, welcomed strangers and sought God through the ordinary discipline of monastic life.

Old Mellifont Abbey remains a precious place within the Archdiocese of Armagh, closely bound to the memory of St Malachy and to a significant moment of renewal in the Irish Church. For pilgrims today, it offers a place to stop, to pray and to remember that the life of the Church continually draws its strength from returning to Christ, listening again to the Gospel and allowing God to renew us from within.

Monasterboice, in County Louth, is one of the great early Christian sites of Ireland and an important part of the spiritual and cultural heritage of the Archdiocese of Armagh. For centuries, Christians have gathered in this place of prayer, learning and worship, and its High Crosses remain among the finest surviving expressions of faith from Ireland’s early monastic tradition.

The monastery at Monasterboice was founded by St Boetius, or St Buithe, in the sixth century. A substantial monastic community developed there, becoming a centre of Christian prayer, learning and artistic work. The surviving churches, round tower and crosses give some sense of the importance of the settlement and of the generations of Christians who lived and worshipped there.

Monasterboice is especially renowned for its magnificent High Crosses. Muiredach’s Cross, also known as the South Cross, stands approximately 5.5 metres high and dates from around the beginning of the tenth century. Its name comes from an inscription asking for a prayer for Muiredach, an abbot of Monasterboice who died in 924. The richly carved panels depict scenes from the Old and New Testaments, including the Crucifixion, the Last Judgement and other moments from the story of salvation.

Nearby stands the remarkable Tall Cross, or West Cross, which at approximately 6.5 metres is the tallest surviving High Cross in Ireland. Its many biblical carvings include scenes associated with Adam and Eve, David and Goliath, Moses, Samson, Elijah, the Baptism of Christ and the Crucifixion. These great stone crosses were not simply monuments. Through their images they proclaimed Scripture, encouraged prayer and helped generations of Christians contemplate the mystery of Christ.

The great round tower, rising to more than 30 metres, together with the remains of the ancient churches, recalls the scale and vitality of the Christian community that once flourished at Monasterboice. Even among the ruins, the character of the site remains deeply evocative. Stone, Scripture, memory and prayer come together in a place where the Christian faith has taken visible form for well over a thousand years.

For the pilgrim today, Monasterboice offers much more than an encounter with Ireland’s early Christian history. To stand before Muiredach’s Cross is to stand before a Gospel carved in stone. The same stories of creation, sin, promise, redemption, death and resurrection that shaped the prayer of the early Christian community continue to speak to those who come here today.

Monasterboice therefore remains a beautiful place to stop, to pray and to remember the generations who received and handed on the faith before us. Its ancient crosses invite every pilgrim to look again towards Christ and to recognise that we too belong within the continuing story of faith which these stones have proclaimed for more than a millennium.

On the western shore of Lough Neagh, Ardboe is one of the most significant early Christian sites within the Archdiocese of Armagh. For more than a thousand years, prayer, worship and Christian witness have marked this place, where the remains of an ancient ecclesiastical settlement stand alongside one of Ireland’s finest High Crosses.

Tradition associates Ardboe with St Colman, who founded a monastery here around 590 AD. The community that grew around the monastery formed part of the rich network of early Irish Christian foundations in which prayer, learning, hospitality and the proclamation of the Gospel became closely intertwined. Although only ruins survive today, the site continues to bear witness to the generations of Christians who lived, prayed and were buried here.

The great Ardboe High Cross, dating from the tenth century, is the most striking surviving reminder of this Christian heritage. Standing approximately 18½ feet high, it may be the earliest of the great High Crosses of Ulster. Its twenty-two carved panels present scenes from both the Old and New Testaments, allowing the stone itself to proclaim the story of salvation. For those who gathered around such crosses centuries ago, these images offered a visible expression of the faith they heard proclaimed and celebrated.

Set against the beauty of Lough Neagh, Ardboe retains a quiet and prayerful character. The Cross, the remains of the church and abbey, and the surrounding burial ground connect the Christian community of today with a much older story of faith rooted in this place.

For the pilgrim, Ardboe offers more than an encounter with an important historic monument. It provides an opportunity to stop, pray and remember those who handed on the faith across the centuries. The biblical scenes carved into the High Cross continue to invite those who visit to contemplate Christ and the great story of God’s saving love.

Today, Ardboe High Cross and St Colman’s Abbey remain a precious part of the Christian heritage of the Archdiocese of Armagh and a beautiful place for pilgrimage, prayer and reflection on the faith that has shaped these shores for more than fourteen centuries.