Information Text in Space 6

The growth of popular pilgrimage is a feature of the later medieval period and Holy Island became an important centre associated with Whitsuntide. This ‘patron’ attracted very large numbers of pilgrims, but was suppressed in the nineteenth century. Greater pilgrimages were made to such places as Jerusalem in the Holy Land and Santiago de Compostela in Spain. 

While such centres of popular devotion attained wide renown throughout Europe, it was the concept of special journeys to these places, the idea of pilgrimage, that typifies personal spirituality in the period. The medieval pilgrim journeyed towards enlightenment. Groups of people as well as individuals sometimes travelled long distances to these shrines and the journey itself formed an essential part of the spiritual pilgrimage. Often particular symbols or emblems were associated with each centre and these, in the form of special types of rock, seashells, shards of pottery or metal badges, were collected by the pilgrims as mementos as well as proof of their pilgrimage. 

The medieval Romanesque church doorway at the end of a pathway represents the sight that would have greeted the pilgrim. The emblems of pilgrimage would be inset in the wall. The trees, cedar of Lebanon and Mediterranean figs and olives, represent the sights familiar to the pilgrim in these far, foreign lands. Medieval Ireland was at one with Europe in these spiritual beliefs. 

The Lime tree, which is the most popular in Europe and which can be found in areas from the Baltic Sea to the Western Ukraine, depicts this period.  The Lime tree has a life span of up to 1,000 years.  The figs and grapes are symbolic of the pilgrimage of this period as is the Romanesque doorway.