Mac Dara was a sixth century Irish Christian saint who lived on an island off the west coast of Ireland. His feast day is September 28; the (Feast of Macdara) occurs on July 16.
["Lá Fhéile Mhic Dara, 16 July", Galway City Museum]
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History
His name was .
/ref> As "sionach" is a word associated with stormy weather, it was not used in preference to his patronym. Saint Macdara's Island off the coast of County Galway
County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...
"was home in the sixth century to St. Macdara, Connemara's most respected saint, who built a one-room chapel here" which is "considered one of the finest early Christian oratories in Ireland". Mac Dara's wooden church was subsequently replaced by one of stone. The oratory was restored in 1975 and appeared on a series of five definitive stamp
A definitive stamp is a postage stamp that is part of the regular issue of a country's stamps, available for sale by the post office for an extended period of time and designed to serve the everyday postal needs of the country. The term is used in ...
s between 1982 and 1986.
Pattern day
The Saint's name does not appear in any of the Calendars or Martyrologies, but he has found a place in the Rev. Canon O'Hanlon's ''Lives of The Saints''. Mac Dara is the patron saint of west Connacht fishermen,[ and the parish of Moyrus, where the church was named for him. It is an old tradition to dip the sails when passing between the island and Mace Head.][ The fishermen do not go out on July 16, Macdara's feast day. Instead people celebrate ''Féile Mhic Dara'' with a pilgrimage from nearby Moyrus beach to the island, where a Mass is celebrated, followed by a blessing of boats, a picnic, and boat races. The pilgrims then return to Carna for a Céilidh and music.
MacDara was a common first name in Connemara.][ The inhabitants also called their boats after him, and to sail in such was considered a guarantee of safety.][
The spelling of the name has a number of different variations including MacDara, Macdarragh and Macdarra. Mac is Irish for Son and Dara is Irish for Oak so the literal translation of Macdara is Son of Oak. One of the most prominent modern uses of the name is a second-level school located in the south of ]Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
city named St Mac Dara's College.St. Mac Dara’s College website
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See also
* Saint Macdara's Island
* Macdara Ó Fátharta, Irish actor
* Macdara Woods, Irish poet
Notes
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People from County Galway
Medieval Irish saints
Irish-language masculine given names
Masculine given names