A connection between a priceless relic of St Patrick and a parish in Northern Ireland has been restored two hundred years after the link was broken. The artefact, reputed to be a jawbone of the saint which was brought hundreds of years ago to the village of Derriaghy in Co. Antrim from Downpatrick where tradition holds that the saint is buried, is held on display at down County Museum.
It had once belonged to a Derriaghy family, having been passed on by relatives in County Down who had given shelter to monks from Downpatrick during the Reformation.
The Cullen family was led to believe that it was a jawbone of the saint and at the time, five teeth were attached to it.
It came to be venerated locally as a cure for epilepsy and water in which the relic was soaked was given to epileptics to drink.
Three of the teeth were given for good luck to members of the Cullen family who emigrated to the United States and a fourth was deposited under the altar of St. Patrick’s Church in Derriaghy when it was erected in 1791.
However, the Cullens eventually sold the relic, which is contained in a silver vessel, to the bishop of Down and Connor, whereupon it moved from the area for safety to St Malachy’s College in Belfast and its provenance was largely forgotten.
Some years later the relic was passed to St Patrick’s parish in Belfast and last year, it was given on temporary loan to Down County Museum.
The museum has placed it on display among the museum’s exhibits about the saint in Downpatrick.
Fr Feargal McGrady of Derriaghy said he had been “looking for a sign” whether to go ahead with the renovation of St Patrick’s Church in Derriaghy when he discovered the connection the famous relic has with the village and the church. “Within days I came across the fact that this relic had survived,” he remarked.
The renovations of the church went ahead and are scheduled to be completed by early next month. Meanwhile, the stewardship of the relic has transferred back but it will remain on display in Downpatrick.
The diocese said that Down County Museum was aware of the transfer of stewardship and was “delighted that the parish priest of Derriaghy was willing to continue the arrangement.”
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