Friday 22 November 2019

Mass Pit, Laois

I passed a sign for Ballyquaid Mass Pit recently. I had never heard of a Mass Pit so my curiosity was piqued and I headed in the direction the sign pointed me.


A Mass Pit is just a small hollow in the ground, usually behind cover where Mass was said during Penal Law times from a point in the 1600's onward. Various laws and acts would have been in place and preceded the actual codification of the full suite of what we call today the Penal Laws.



I am led to believe that some of the very last statues involved in the whole sorry business of the Penal Laws were only abolished or revoked in the early 20th century, amazing if true...


At Ballyquaid I am presuming that when it was used as a place of worship that the hollow was deeper than it is today. The local community have erected some nice memorials and an altar with overhead shelter on the site.


It's in south Laois and very rural, well off the beaten track. Below is a Font located at the site.


The coordinates are listed below taken from Bing but work fine with Google Maps as well, keep the wheels turning.



Bing Map coordinates :  52.902561, -7.6469