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Santa Irene or San Pedro?

Bert45

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2003, 2014, 2016, 2016, 2018, 2019
Does anybody know for certain whether the chapel in the village of Santa Irene is dedicated to Santa Irene or to San Pedro? Vivecamino.com says: Santa Irene es un lugar de gran belleza conocido por su ermita consagrada a San Pedro, ... Most other sites go with Santa Irene. Logically, it should be Santa Irene, but why would vivecamino say San Pedro without good reason?
 
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What I read on Internet is the chapel is dedicated to Santa Irene but on 29th June there is a Romeria (A kind of pilgrImage with food) in the oak grave surrounding the chapel in honour of San Pedro.
There is also near a Fonte de Santa Irene also known as Fonte da Eterna Xuventude (Fountain of Ethernal Youth).
 
Another site that says that the building is dedicated to San Pedro:
"The other option is to stay the night in Santa Irene a small village near O Pedrouzo that has a public hostel and a private one. It also has a hermitage devoted to San San Pedro."
We can read all sorts of stuff on the internet, but when there is a contradiction I need to get in touch with somebody who has been there, or somebody who lives there.
 
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We can read all sorts of stuff on the internet, but when there is a contradiction I need to get in touch with somebody who has been there, or somebody who lives there.
I'm confident that @Pelegrin provided you with information from a reliable website. It even gives you an explanation about how a confusion between San Pedro and Santa Irene can arise.

Websites run by travel agencies and camino blogs as well as camino guidebooks often just copy from each other, perpetuating mistakes about history and architecture. I've read amazingly wrong stuff on such sites when I researched another small church in this area some time ago.

The first thing to assess reliability is to read the "About us" or "Agradecimientos" section. I recommend:

www.patrimoniodeopino.es - Patrimonio de O Pino, made available by the municipality of O Pino
http://www.patrimoniodeopino.es/images/stories/descargas/ermida-santa-irea-cast.pdf

I also recommend reading it in Spanish or Gallego where the information is often more complete than in English. The website has also information about Robledal de San Pedro (Sta. Irene) and Fuente de Santa Irea. Why Irea? See https://www.misapellidos.com/significado-de-Irea-35219.html

You can easily verify that Santa Irene is part of the municipality of O Pino and patrimonio means patrimony. This should also provide you with leads for email addresses and telephone numbers if you still need to get in touch with someone who is knowledgable and lives there. For such crucial information, I personally would not rely on somebody whose only qualification is that "s/he has been there".
 
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We enjoyed staying at the little Santa Irene albergue.
 
The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
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I find it a good website for that sort of information. And there's a ton of additional good information about the Eremita Santa Irene on the web. Here's a photo of the inside, with Santa Irene at the top, San Antonio and San Roque at the lower level and in the middle San Pedro in whose honour the June pilgrimage is made in the forest surrounding the chapel as you mentioned already. And I've learnt the word carballeira today. :)

DSC0430.jpg


Construida a finales del siglo XVII con planta rectangular y pequeña espadaña, alberga en su interior un retablo barroco con una sencillas imágenes de la Santa Irene, San Antonio, San Roque y otra de San Pedro Papa, santo al que cada 29 de junio se honra con una gran romería en la acogedora “carballeira” contigua a la ermita.

Source: http://elcaminodesantiagodesdeasturias.blogspot.com/2018/08/santa-irene.html
 
Santa Irene is privately owned so is nearly always closed. I was lucky because I wrang the doorbell at the house just in front if it and the owner an elderly woman who has the keys and confirmed owns it, let me in.
 
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Vivecamino.com says: Santa Irene es un lugar de gran belleza conocido por su ermita consagrada a San Pedro, ... Most other sites go with Santa Irene. Logically, it should be Santa Irene, but why would vivecamino say San Pedro without good reason?

There's no good reason for it and just to prove the case :cool:, Vivecamino.com also says this: En el ayuntamiento de O Pino existen varias celebraciones relacionadas, sobre todo, con el capítulo religioso. Una de las que destaca por su concurrencia es la de San Pedro, una romería popular aderezada con música y gastronomía gallega que tiene lugar el 29 de junio en la robleda situada junto a la ermita de Santa Irene.
 
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Thanks to all of the above. I think that there is still room for doubt about this: En el ayuntamiento ....que tiene lugar el 29 de junio en la robleda situada junto a la ermita de Santa Irene.
" la ermita de Santa Irene" could mean the ermita in the village of Santa Irene, or it could mean the ermita dedicated to Santa irene.
But I'm going with the majority (unanimous) view that the chapel is dedicated to Santa Irene.
 

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