Loch Maree was a sacred loch, with the island, “
The island definitely seems connected to the moon goddess – the island’s later reputation as curing lunacy (the illness of the moon) attests to this possibility.
Others have highlighted that “Maree” is a corruption of “Mourie”, a Celtic deity, known as “the High King”. As with all early deities, there were certain animals associated with him, specifically the bull and other animals with curved horns (a moon-symbol). After Christianization, Mourie became linked with St. Maol Rubha, and they occupied the same holy ground. The names are very similar, and no doubt this is intentional: both the pagan name and the Christian name were corrupted, so that the balance of the old belief and the new religion were equal.
Nigel Pennick in “Celtic Sacred Landscapes” (p. 161) states: “In the region of Gairloch [in Scotland], the ‘old rites’ of the divinity Mhor-Ri, ‘The Great King’ (also known as St. Maree, Mourie or Maelrubha), were observed until the nineteenth century.” The “Great King” was the earthly representative of the sun, said to marry the Earth – a ritual which obviously occurred at a site that was sacred to the Earth goddess – represented by the moon.
The reference also shows that in the 17th century, the cult was far from local: “The cultus was important far beyond the Gairloch region, for strangers and ‘thease that comes from forren countreyes’ were reported as participants in the ‘old rites’. But the presbytery was unable to suppress this popular deity. Writing in 1860, Sir Alexander Mitchell tells us that the ‘people of the place often speak of the god Mourie’. Another writer of the same period tells of the god’s holy hill, called Claodh Maree, which was the Scottish parallel of
This suggests that the location of the island in the shadow of a sacred hill is indeed important. The direct link between the Great King and a sacred hill is reminiscent of the Irish residence of the “High King” on the sacred hill of Tara, in central
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The sacred nature of Helgafell is apparent: it is a conical hill, and hence linked with the sacred centre. The only problem is that in the vicinity of Loch Maree, there are no conical hills. The only candidate for a sacred hill – a hill which is out of the ordinary – remains Slioch.
Loch Maree most likely attained its sacred status because of its setting: an island deemed special by early settlers (perhaps because of an oak growing next to a well), in the shadow of a sacred peak. But it is most remarkable for its history: how it continued as a place of worship… and continues to retain its sacred, protected status into the 21st century. (Read More ...)