Croagh Patrick Pilgrimage (1964)

Croagh Patrick, West Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Eire.

Early morning shots of pilgrims setting out on a gruelling walk up a mountain where St Patrick went to fast for forty days. Various shots of walkers making their way up the craggy, rocky mountain. Some of the pilgrims have bare feet. Many of them fast on the pilgrimage. There are many C/Us of the legs and feet of the pilgrims - some women have large ladders in their stockings, some feet are bruised and blistered.

At the summit pilgrims break their fast by having a cup of tea. There is a chapel at the top of the hill where services are held. Many pilgrims kneel on the ground to say a prayer and look at "St Patrick's Bed" - a stone bed.

Note: it seems from paperwork that the idea of filming the pilgrimage was suggested to Pathe by a freelance cameraman who was given the go ahead. The editor of Pathe Pictorial (Douglas Warth) wrote to the cameraman (Robert Monks) to say the following: "It was, by the nature of the job, a bit repetitive, and I wish I'd seen more of the starkness, like the old ladies stumbling and the bruised, bare feet."

Cuts exist - see separate record.
FILM ID:293.04

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