The Reverend John Richardson, Rector of Belturbet, Co. Cavan, author of ‘The Great Folly, Superstition and idolatry of Pilgrimages in Ireland, Especially of that to St. Patrick’s Purgatory, together With an Account of the Loss that the public Sustaineth thereby, truly and impartially Represented his account at Ballyvourney, Co. Cork, 1727 of 13th century wooden statue of St. Gobnait (Patroness of Bee Keepers) as an antidote to small pox being kept by the O’Herlihys.

Originally posted on West Cork History:
The Reverend John Richardson, Rector of Belturbet, Co. Cavan, author of ‘The Great Folly, Superstition and…