Croagh Patrick (Cruach Phádraig)

Ireland's holy mountain, climbed by pilgrims for over a thousand years in honour of St Patrick.

Croagh Patrick (Cruach Phádraig), overlooking Clew Bay in County Mayo, is Ireland's holy mountain. It is said that St Patrick fasted on its summit for forty days, and it has been a place of pilgrimage for well over a thousand years. Some traditions on the mountain are older still, reaching back to pre-Christian times.

On 'Reek Sunday', the last Sunday in July, thousands of pilgrims climb the 764-metre quartzite cone, some in bare feet, to the small chapel at its summit.

At a glance

• Ireland's holy mountain, above Clew Bay in Co. Mayo.
• Associated with St Patrick, said to have fasted here for 40 days.
• A place of pilgrimage for over a thousand years.
• Climbed by thousands on 'Reek Sunday', the last Sunday of July.

In County Mayo

Croagh Patrick is in County Mayo, Maigh Eo in Irish, which means “plain of the yew trees”.

More in Mayo

• Achill Island (Acaill): Ireland's largest island, joined to Mayo by a bridge, with cliffs and blue-flag beaches.
• Céide Fields (Achaidh Chéide): The oldest known field systems in the world, preserved under blanket bog.
• Clare Island (Cliara): A mountainous island at the mouth of Clew Bay, home of the pirate queen.

Other places of this kind

• Carrauntoohil (Corrán Tuathail): The highest mountain in Ireland, standing at 1,038.6 meters.
• Slieve League (Sliabh Liag): Among the highest sea cliffs in Europe, rising almost 600 metres from the Atlantic in County Donegal.
• Benbulben (Binn Ghulbain): The dramatic flat-topped 'table mountain' of County Sligo, at the heart of Yeats Country and Irish legend.
• The Mourne Mountains (Beanna Boirche): A range of granite peaks in County Down, and the inspiration for songs and for the land of Narnia.
• The Sperrin Mountains (Sléibhte Speirín): A sweeping range of rounded hills across counties Tyrone and Derry, and one of the largest upland areas in Ireland.
• Mount Leinster (Stua Laighean): The highest peak of the Blackstairs Mountains, rising on the Carlow-Wexford border.

The Irish name

The Irish form of Croagh Patrick is Cruach Phádraig. You can hear it spoken, and take apart names like it, in the Placename Explorer. The authoritative record for any Irish place-name is logainm.ie.