On Saturday next March 19th at 11 a.m. a special commemorative event takes place in Donoughmore. The occasion is the 1400th anniversary of the death of St Lachtin the patron saint of the parish. A specially commissioned information sign will be unveiled by local Cork County Counciller Michael Looney. The location Donoughmore Cross (Eircode P32NX84), at the heart of the parish, is the site of an ancient church and graveyard. Originally an ancient monastery in the early Christian period, it was later a pre reformation church and ultimately a Church of Ireland place of worship. In the graveyard encircling the church memorials date from 1753. Many nameless markers indicate earlier internments.
St Lachtin became associated with the site and when he died in AD 622 his arm was encased in what is now known as St Lachtins reliquary. This relic is regarded universally by scholars as being one of Ireland most treasured antiquities and has pride of place in the Treasury Room of the National Museum in Dublin alongside such illustrious artefacts as the Ardagh Chalice and The Cross of Cong.
On the northern part of the site lies a communal grave for victims of The Great Famine when over a period of ten months, 1400 of the community died.
This unique occasion represents an opportunity for the community to gather together and to remember their ancestors and mark the site where the original parish was born.
