Recording Ireland’s mass paths through the voices of Irish emigrants in New York’s Tri-State area

Mass paths.
Dr Hilary Bishop's project aims to record oral histories of mass paths from Irish emigrants and their descendants in the New York Tri-State area (pic: mass path in Lackagh, Co. Galway).

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A new research project aims to document the fading memories of Ireland’s mass paths among Irish emigrants and their descendants in the New York Tri-State area.

Dr Hilary Bishop, a senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, is in New York to gather oral histories from Irish emigrants and their descendants as part of her project “A Path Well-Trodden: Narratives from Ireland’s Mass Paths”. She is currently seeking volunteers to share their memories of these historic paths.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

What is a mass path?

Mass paths – known in Irish as slí an aifrinn (literally mass way) or cosán an aifrinn (literally mass foot path) – were a feature of rural Ireland for centuries. While some date to penal times (1695–1756), when Catholic worship was outlawed and driven underground, most have their origins in the 19th century as church building resumed.

Cut into the landscape, these paths connected rural communities not just to their local parish churches but also to schools and even local shops and pubs. They connected the community both physically and socially.

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During the penal period, when Catholic churches were appropriated by Protestant authorities, Mass was celebrated in secret, often in barns, outbuildings and private homes, as well as under trees and bushes or at open-air altars known as mass rocks. The paths leading to these hidden places of worship were similarly kept secret in an effort to evade detection by authorities intent on arresting officiating priests.

>>> READ MORE: Franciscan friar rescued by locals in penal era Roscommon

Mass-goers crossed fields, trekked over bogland, followed boundary walls or field banks for shelter and walked along stream beds to hide their footprints. Where passage between fields was necessary, stone stiles were erected or sections of walls and banks were dismantled, and stepping stones were placed in streams to assist with crossing.

Mass path in Lackagh, Co. Galway.
This mass path in Lackagh, Co. Galway, between two banks, with their abundant vegetation, would have afforded mass-goers shelter on their way to Mass.

With the relaxation of the penal laws and the eventual availability of land for new Catholic churches, the tradition of mass paths continued. Many mass-goers could not afford transport and continued to journey to their local churches on foot well into the 20th century.

Mass paths under threat

Mass paths provide a tangible link to Irish history and heritage in the form of rituals, traditions, social habits, stories, expressions, specialized knowledge and skills that have been passed down through generations. The use of these pathways has declined sharply in recent decades, with many having fallen out of use entirely and are now at risk of fading from memory.

Yet, despite their intrinsic historical value and the threats they face, mass paths have no official definition, status or protection and many are being lost due to building developments, infrastructural projects and changing farming practices.

A F F I L I A T E  A D

Dr Bishop’s research aims to find innovative ways of measuring and managing living heritage to support future policy-making while better protecting these historic pathways.

An appeal to the Irish diaspora

Dr Bishop has received a Fulbright All-Disciplines Scholars Award to undertake research in the New York Tri-State area in order to record the oral heritage associated with mass paths among the Irish community there.

>>> READ MORE: Talking to older people: questions to find out about Ireland’s past and your roots

Currently based at Glucksman Ireland House, New York University, she is appealing to Irish and Irish-American communities to take part in her oral history project, and she is particularly keen to hear from those who emigrated – or whose parents or grandparents emigrated – from rural Ireland in the 1960s.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Participants are invited to share their memories of walking mass paths at a series of relaxed, in-conversation events in the New York Tri-State area, or through personal interviews, between now and the end of March 2025. In-conversation events will consist of no more than five people, and both interviews and in-conversation sessions will take about an hour.

Anyone interested in contributing to the project can contact Dr Hilary Bishop at h.j.bishop@ljmu.ac.uk or visit her website FindaMassRock.com for more information.

Advertising Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. Irish Heritage News is an affiliate of FindMyPast. We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases – this does not affect the amount you pay for your purchase.

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