The Institute for Pilgrimage Studies at the College of William & Mary in Virginia was created to facilitate the study of pilgrimage through two primary mechanisms.
First, the Institute provides support for the international Consortium on Pilgrimage studies. The Institute supports the Consortium by:
To date my research has concentrated on the history and archaeology of pilgrimage in early and late medieval Ireland. In 2010 I completed a PhD thesis 'Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland AD 600-1600'. I am also very interested in pilgrim roads and routeways as well in pilgrim souvenirs and burials in Ireland and the rest of Europe. Recently I have begun to record modern pilgrimages at holy wells in Ireland.
Ilam has been a place of pilgrimage since the days of St Bertram, a Saxon saint and hermit who lived here.
A pilgrimage takes place each year on the Sunday closest to 12 July, the day when travelling priests Nicholas Garlick and Robert Ludlam were captured at Padley in 1588. They were subsequently convicted and executed.
Connections between pilgrimage and home life; Catholic/Protestant (evangelical) comparisons; Ritual and material practice/aesthetics; Lived religion (popular practice); American Christian global connections/travel.