Faughart (also written Fochart) is an early Christian ruins and shrine site just north of

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, M ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. As a popular site for modern pilgrimages, it was the birthplace of

St. Brigid Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogr ...

in 451 AD, and one of her relics is held in a church in nearby Kilcurry.

Edward Bruce Edward Bruce, Earl of Carrick ( Norman French: ; mga, Edubard a Briuis; Modern Scottish Gaelic: gd, Eideard or ; – 14 October 1318), was a younger brother of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. He supported his brother in the 1306–1314 s ...

is buried in the graveyard on the hill above the shrine (). Bruce, who had taken the title

King of Ireland King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...

, was defeated and killed at the

Battle of Faughart The Battle of Faughart (or Battle of Dundalk) was fought on 14 October 1318 between a Hiberno-Norman force led by John de Bermingham (later created 1st Earl of Louth) and Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick, and a Scottish and Irish army command ...

in 1318. Landmarks include St. Brigid's stone and pillar, her shrine and

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

, and modern religious sites devoted to the saint that attract thousands of

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...

s and

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

s, providing a massive boost to the local economy. Ruins include an iron-age fort, a Norman motte-castle, and a medieval church. Situated 3 km north of

and 6 km south of

Forkill Forkhill or Forkill ( , ; ) is a small village and civil parish in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is within the Ring of Gullion and in the 2011 Census it had a recorded population of 498. It lies within the former barony of Orior Up ...

, and standing at the southern end of the Gap of the North/ Moyry Pass, Faughart held huge strategic importance for many centuries and was the scene of many battles; one such legendary battle was fought by

Cú Chulainn Cú Chulainn ( ), called the Hound of Ulster ( Irish: ''Cú Uladh''), is a warrior hero and demigod in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore. He is believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lugh ...

in the '' Táin''.

Battles

248 AD

A battle was fought at Faughart by Cormac Ulfada, High King of Ireland, against Storno (Starno), king of Lochlin.

732 AD

The date of 732, or alternatively 735, is given for the Battle of Fochart between

Áed Allán Áed Allán (or Áed mac Fergaile) (died 743) was an 8th-century Irish king of Ailech and High King of Ireland. Áed Allán was the son of Fergal mac Máele Dúin and a member of the Cenél nEógain, a branch of the Northern Uí Néill. Ferga ...

, king of Ireland, and

Áed Róin Áed Róin mac Bécce Bairrche (died 735) was the Dál Fiatach ruler of the over-kingdom of Ulaid in Ireland. He reigned from 708 to 735. He was the son of Bécc Bairrche mac Blathmaic, (died 718), a previous king of Ulaid who had abdicated in 707 ...

, king of

Ulaid Ulaid (Old Irish, ) or Ulaidh ( Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include Ulidia, which is the Latin form of Ulaid, and in ...

. Áed Róin and Conchad mac Cúanach of

Uí Echach Cobo Iveagh ( ; ) is the name of several historical territorial divisions in what is now County Down, Northern Ireland. Originally it was a Gaelic Irish territory, ruled by the ''Uí Echach Cobo'' and part of the overkingdom of Ulaid. From the 12th c ...

were slain, with Áed Róin being decapitated on the ''Cloch an Commaigh'' (Stone of Decapitation) located near the door of the old church of Faughart. This conflict arose as a result of a request by Bishop

Congus Congus (also called Congas, Conghas, Conghus) b. c.680 - d.750, was the Bishop of Armagh, Ireland from 730 to 750. Genealogy and Birth Congus was from Cul Athguirt in the parish of Islandmagee, County Antrim. He was descended from Dá Slúai ...

. The

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

give the story as follows under the year 732: An Irish proverb arose from this incident: ''Torad penne Congusa'' (‘the fruit of Congus’s pen’), i.e. the downfall of the Ulaid resulted from the letter of Congus.

1318 AD

The

was fought on 14 October 1318 between a Hiberno-Norman force led by John de Bermingham, 1st Earl of Louth, and Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick and a Scots-Irish army commanded by Edward Bruce, the brother of Robert Bruce, King of Scots, who had been hailed as King of Ireland by certain Irish chiefs.

References

Sources

*Foster, R.F. ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland''. Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 8
online.
* Lehane, Brendan. ''The Companion Guide to Ireland''. Companion Guides, 2001, p. 45
online.
*Lewis, Samuel. ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland'', vol 2. London 1837. Full tex
downloadable.Saint Brigid’s Shrine & Well Faughart
with map {{Authority control County Louth