Mass rock
The Mass Rock ( Irish : Carraig an Aifrinn ; German : Messestein ) is a boulder used as an altar during the Penal Laws in Ireland . It provided a prerequisite for secretly attending holy masses that were held in the open air.
description
The British occupation forces forbade the island's Catholics to practice their religion publicly through laws that came into being between 1695 and 1709. In the 18th century in particular , public ceremonies by Catholic clergy were forbidden. The prelude to the discrimination was the law of the English Parliament passed in 1691, which excluded Catholics from all government offices, parliament, universities and the military - in England and Ireland. Many churches and monasteries were destroyed or repurposed after the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
- Mass Rocks
Mass Rock by Sandhill
Mass Rock by Tonaneave
Chalice Stone , Mass Rock of Glen Roy, Scotland
Irish Catholics therefore began to celebrate outdoor masses at hidden Mass Rocks. Many places, such as Ballymacpeake, Cappabane, Castlemagner or Newtowncunningham, have been remembered to this day and are still used sporadically. Also megaliths like the Wedge tomb of altar in County Cork and the Dolmen of Ballyfroota in County Limerick served as mass rock. In Killina, west of Tullamore in County Offaly in Ireland, there is a holy spring , a mass rock and a portlaun in close proximity . Today, Mass Rocks are partially shown on maps, such as that of Tawley in County Leitrim .
There were also stones used as mass rock in Scotland after the last Jacobite rising of 1745 (the Forty-Five) and the persecution of Catholics by the Duke of Cumberland , such as the Chalice Stone .
literature
- Denis Power: Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 3: Mid Cork. Stationery Office, Dublin 1997. ISBN 0-7076-4933-1 .