Lunasa (Lughnasa) or Garland Sunday is also known as Fraughn Sunday. (A fraughn is a small berry which has ripened and people now enjoy the fruits they have gathered.) It is celebrated on the last Sunday in July (July 25) and marks the end of summer. It has been a place of pilgrimage since pagan times. It is also called Crom Dubh or the dark, crooked one who was the most feared of all the pagan gods.
On this day in July, pilgrims climb Croagh Patrick (2,533 feet) in Co. Mayo, many in their bare feet. Legend says St. Patrick prayed and fasted on the top of the mountain for forty days and forty nights. New potatoes are dug in the following week, and the incantation of “Death to the red-haired girl” is heard. The red-haired girl symbolizes ‘famine.’
