ST PATRICK'S PURGATORY LOUGH DERG CO. DONEGAL REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

ST PATRICK'S PURGATORY LOUGH DERG CO. DONEGAL REPUBLIC OF IRELAND . thought to be the most visited devotional site in Ireland the ancient pilgrimage site at Lough Derg occupies a powerful place in the Irish imagination. Even if they have not gone there themselves, most Irish adults know of some friend or family member who has experienced the rigorous three-day retreat there, or at least know it by reputation. It even has a place in Irish literature.
The name Lough Derg refers to a lake that surrounds two large islands in northwest Ireland, not far from the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland. The islands, Saints’ Island and Station Island, have been sites of pilgrimage since at least the early 12th century, and the home of Irish monks for six centuries before that. There, in a form not much changed in centuries, pilgrims still travel to “Saint Patrick’s Purgatory” on Station Island for a physically grueling routine of prayer, fasting and sleep deprivation that many describe as leaving them feeling “stripped away” or “broken
As legend has it, St. Patrick found a cave here that was the entrance to purgatory, a place that helped wavering believers see heaven and hell. The larger of the two Islands, Saints’ Island, was home to a monastery led by St. Davog (d. 516), one of the “apostles” of Ireland. The smaller island, Station Island, home of today’s pilgrimage, was the site of the cave, the “purgatory,” and a number of small beehive-shaped stone monks’ cells that are a locus of pilgrimage today. Augustinian monks took over in the early 12th century and promoted the cave as a site for pilgrimage. According to medieval accounts, pilgrims traveled to the cave from throughout Europe, and after 15 days’ prayer were locked in the cave for a 24-hour penitential vigil. The site was closed briefly during the Renaissance papacy, destroyed later by Protestant reformers, and severely suppressed during the penal times in the 17th and 18th centuries, but the pilgrimages seemed to take place almost continuously.2 After the penal times, a “prison church” which replicated the experience of being locked in the cave was built on the site of the cave. The number of pilgrims fluctuated significantly over the years, growing to 30,000 per year at its 20th-century peak.3 As late as 1979, the shrine was operating at full capacity, welcoming 500 pilgrims each day for retreats during the season.
Though Lough Derg offers a variety of one-day options and several themed retreats, the experience most people know of is the three-day pilgrimage, a period of fasting, rote prayers and abstinence from sleep. Three-day retreats take place beginning any day from June 1-August 15,
The “three-day” retreat actually entails only 36-40 hours on the island, with pilgrims arriving by 3:30 p.m. on the day they choose to begin, and leaving the island by 9:30 a.m. a day and a half later. In one important sense, though, the retreat begins earlier and ends later. Pilgrims are expected to begin a complete fast at midnight before they arrive, and can only break the fast the midnight after their departure. During their time on Lough Derg, they may not bring food, drinks or candy, mobile phones or computers, cameras or musical instruments.4 They eat only one “Lough Derg meal” per day - black tea and dry toast or plain oatcakes - and can otherwise drink only water. They do not sleep from the time of their arrival on the island until 10 p.m. on the second day of their retreat, a period of at least 31 hours.
During the course of their stay, pilgrims complete nine “stations,” periods when they walk in circles silently along pre-defined paths in or around the church; in circles around the “penitential beds,” the foundations of circular monastic stone cells said to date from the 9th century; and at stone “kneelers” at the edge of the lake. During each station they repeatedly pray the Hail Mary, Our Father, and Apostles’ Creed, standing, kneeling, walking as they progress. They walk barefoot on stone or pavement for the whole of the pilgrimage,
The first day includes three stations between the arrival on the island and the first evening’s night prayer and Benediction. A 24-hour vigil that starts after the Benediction includes a nighttime Rosary, then four stations during the night, then a 6:30 a.m. Mass, confessions at 8:30, another station, a noontime renewal of baptismal promises, a Way of the Cross at 3 p.m., evening Mass at 6:30, and a night prayer, Benediction and conclusion to the vigil at 10 p.m., when pilgrims go to their dormitories to sleep.