Young people visit the holy well at Durrow Abbey in Offaly.
Saint Colm Cille (also called Columba) established a monastery at Durrow in the 6th century. He had moved to Offaly from Derry, where he had built his first church. It was here that the Book of Durrow, an illuminated Gospel book, was written.
The feast day of Saint Colm Cille is observed on 9 June. The local pattern, a Roman Catholic religious devotion which involves a pilgrimage to a holy well or local saint's grave has taken place at this site for longer than anyone can remember.
Large numbers of young people took part in a special youth pilgrimage to St Colmcille’s holy well in the grounds of Durrow Abbey.
The Bishop of Meath Dr McCormack has named Durrow a place of pilgrimage for the Holy Year.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 10 June 1974. The reporter is Dermot Mullane.
