Isle of Man Praying the Keeills 2019 has theme of St Patrick's Breastplate - The Deer's Cry

Praying the Keeills (Manx Gaelic: Goaill Padjer Ec Ny Shenn Chialteenyn) takes place on the Isle of Man (Mannin) between Sat 18th - Sat 25th May 2019. The annual Praying the Keeills Week, incorporates visits to a number of ancient, holy sites across the Island. The historical keeill (Manx Gaelic: church, kirk) is a Christian chapel built during the 8th - 12th century. Mostly very small, the earliest examples were built of earth sods, others were larger and made of stone. It's thought there may have been approximately two hundred keeills throughout the Island, of which only about thirty five survive; albeit just their remains. For details of this years events visit the Praying the Keeills website.

This year's theme of The Deer's Cry, also known as Saint Patrick's Breastplate, The Lorica of Saint Patrick or Saint Patrick's Hymn comes from a Christian prayer said to have been recited by St Patrick for protection. The Latin word lōrīca originally meant armour or breastplate. It is said that Saint Patrick sang The Deer's Cry when subject to an ambush laid by Lóegaire. Lóegaire mac Néill, according to the Irish annals and king lists, was a 5th century King of Tara or High King of Ireland and reputed to be an opponent of Saint Patrick. In laying a trap for Patrick his aim was to prevent him going to Tara to spread his faith. In answer to Patrick's prayer for protection, he and his monks were turned into or given the appearance to his enemies of being wild deer with a fawn following them. This is where the name Deer's Cry comes from. This allowed them to evade the ambush.

There is a beautiful illuminated version of The Deer's Cry in the Manx Museum (Manx Gaelic: Thie Tashtee Vannin) consisting of a series of pages of illuminated lettering bound into a book. It was designed and executed by renowned Manx designer Archibald Knox (1864-1933), using designs from the many Norse and Celtic art that can be found on the Isle of Man. The illustrations by Archibald Knox can be seen on the Manx Museum www.imuseum.im website.