This is an easy book to review as it was an entirely pleasurable read. Bernadette Cunningham has picked a topic of contemporary interest, the growth of the Camino pilgrimage route to Santiago, and explores the medieval origins of this journey for travellers from Ireland. The book is well pitched for the interested general reader and for an academic audience, covering a wide range of topics, from individual travellers’ accounts, poetry, hagiography, history, church dedications, holy wells, the impact of the Reformation and the late twentieth century revival of pilgrimage routes despite declining attendance at church.
The narrative of the pilgrimage thus provides a fascinating window to explore a range of broader themes in Irish religious and cultural history. The prose is clear and engaging and flows smoothly. Each chapter is clearly structured with good use of subheadings to divide the material into bitesize topics and to signal shifts in focus. As one might expect from Cunningham's work, the book is also thoroughly researched with plenty of attention to primary sources and a wealth of helpful footnotes to guide the curious reader who wishes to find out more.
The introduction and closing chapter explain the revival and promotion of pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint James at Santiago de Compostela. The point is made that medieval pilgrims travelled in a very different world, and most would have sailed to A Coruña rather than walking along the north Spanish coast as is encouraged nowadays. Chapter one explores the positive and negative motives for travel and the challenges that could face travellers en route, practicalities and planning. Chapter two situates Santiago within a broader framework of international pilgrimage from Ireland to Jerusalem, Rome and Britain. Excellent use is made of poetry and chronicle sources to illuminate this picture. The third chapter deals with representations of Saint James in medieval Irish art, literature and material culture. Discussion includes medieval origin legends and the identification of A Coruña as the departure point of the Sons of Míl from Spain to Ireland.
The chronological development of the pilgrimage is traced in the next two chapters. One deals with the ‘Anglo-Norman Phase’ showing how the cult of Saint James grew in Ireland through English settlement and religious patronage from the late twelfth century. Many pilgrims set out from English ports. Case studies of travellers in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century are used, including Margaret Athy and James Rice of Waterford, providing potted biographies of these individuals. The ‘Gaelic-Irish Phase’ of devotion to Saint James developed significantly in the fifteenth century, and was especially promoted by the Mág Uidhir lords of Fermanagh. Case studies of other individuals including Mairgréag an Einigh Ní Chearbhaill are discussed, and Cunningham thus deals with both male and female expressions of piety. As Cunningham mentions, pilgrims of different backgrounds would have often shared the same boats to Spain.
The final chapter naturally brings the discussion of medieval Irish pilgrimage to a close through discussing the decline wrought by the Reformation and the wars of the seventeenth century. The brief discussion of the Irish in Galicia after the Reformation is particularly interesting and this is a topic that would merit further exploration through primary sources from Spain (use of Spanish sources is somewhat limited within the book). The mixed motives in the revival of the modern pilgrimage, including scepticism about the re-discovery of the relics of St James and the ‘politico-religious crusade of General Francisco Franco’ (p. 158) are not avoided. However, the overall spiritual meaning and purpose of pilgrimage is highlighted. The motive of many modern travellers is effectively encapsulated in a quote from a contemporary pilgrim's travel account (David Gibson) ‘the human quest for meaning is acted out in physical movement’ (pp 14–15).
A useful selection of black and white images and maps accompanies the text. There are four appendices which tabulate data on the cult of St James in Ireland, of known pilgrims, dedications of wells and churches to St James, and the holding of fairs on St James's Day. A comprehensive bibliography is divided between primary and secondary sources and the work is usefully indexed. Bernadette Cunningham's book is therefore highly recommended. Her work ranges with ease and perception across different disciplines. The books shows how exploration of the cult of an individual saint can cast light on different aspects of Irish history. The book also suggests scope for further research on the Irish who ventured abroad in the late medieval and early modern period, both from the perspective of Irish sources and the sources of the countries which received them.
