Isle Maree, Loch Maree, Wester Ross: sacred isle of St Maelrubha formerly used for healing rituals/madness cures. Snow on peak of Slioch to rear.
Isle Maree in Loch Maree seen from Eilean Subhainn with snow on the peak of Slioch to the rear. Sacred isle of St Maelrubha (Maree) who may have supplanted the pagan Celtic deity Lugos. Monks & hermits lived on the isle. It became a burial ground & a mixture of Christian & pagan beliefs & practices, including bull sacrifice, Lughnasa celebrations, divination & lunacy cures, persisted openly into the C18th using the ruined chapel & altar, holy well & sacred oak. Queen Victoria popularized the practice of hammering coins into the Money Tree (killed by copper poisoning & ring-barking) beside the well which dried up after a shepherd attempted to cure his mad dog there. The island is part of a National Nature Reserve.
Size: 4231px × 5669px
Location: Isle Maree, Loch Maree, Gairloch, Wester Ross, Highland, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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