The Cult of St Leo in Inishark: A Creative Heritage
Men standing at Clochán Leo on Inishark, Co. Galway; PD 1975 TX 11 (72).
Join us for our lunchtime lecture and explore the integration of folklore, archaeology, and ethnography through the Cult of St Leo!
Inishark is an uninhabited island 9 miles off the coast of Connemara. Among this landscape of ruins are a series of sacred monuments dedicated to an enigmatic St Leo. Folklore combined with recent archaeological discoveries shed light on the origins of this cult in the early medieval period and its creative adaptation across centuries. Stone cross-slabs, quartz pebbles, rosary beads, fragments of ceramic and glass drinking vessels, and tales of curses and cures track the development of Leo’s cult from the devotions of early medieval monks to the picnics, pilgrimages, and politics of islanders in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Dr Ryan Lash is a Teaching Fellow in the School of Archaeology at University College Dublin. His work integrates archaeology, folklore, and ethnography to explore how island communities creatively engage their heritage to foster collaboration and sustainable livelihoods. His new book Island Endurance: Creative Heritage on Inishark and Inishbofin is published by Indiana University Press.
Illustration from Ryan Lash's book Island Endurance: Creative Heritage on Inishark and Inishbofin; Figure 5.01.
Photographic views of Bosco's Castle, Inishbofin, Co. Galway, a donkey carrying a load on Inishbofin and men standing at Clochán Leo on Inishark, Co. Galway; from a 1894 William Frazer album; Prints and Drawings; PD 1975 TX 11 (72).
If our team can be of any assistance, please contact us at learning@nli.ie.
