St Patrick’s Sanctuary, Lough Derg sees arrival of first pilgrims of 2024

The famed Lough Derg, the Sanctuary of St Patrick, and a place of Christian Pilgrimage since the 5th Century this week welcomed its first pilgrims of 2024.

They asked people to pray for the young people who joined them “as we begin our series of Confirmation Retreat Days from now until the end of April”.

Meanwhile, the first Pilgrim Path will take place on Monday April 1, Easter Monday for Pilgrim Path Week, with other dates on Sunday May 26 and Sunday September 8.

For more than fifteen hundred years the story of Lough Derg has been told and as far back as records go, has been associated with St Patrick.

Ancient writings have it that the first monks settled at Lough Derg in the fifth century, not long after St Patrick came to Ireland.

ABOVE: Lough Derg and Station Island from above

It would seem to have been well established as a place of pilgrimage by the ninth century, and there is a famous world map of 1492 on which the only place marked for Ireland is the penitential island of Lough Derg.

The Pilgrim Path itself reflects the story of Lough Derg. The present route from Pettigo to Lough Derg goes back only to the 1860s.  Before then the pilgrims came over the hills and down to the lough shore at Portcreevy, near St Brigid’s Well.

From there the path made its way onwards towards the monastery on Saints Island.

The 2024 Three Day Pilgrimage begins on Friday May 31 2024 until Thursday August 15, the last pilgrims arriving on the Tuesday. 

One Day Retreat dates this year include:

May: Sunday 5, Monday 6, Sunday 12, Tuesday 14, Saturday 18, Saturday 25 & Monday 27 of May.

August: Saturday 17, Tuesday 20, Sunday 25, Monday 26, Saturday 31.

September: Wednesday 4, Saturday 7, Tuesday 10, Saturday 14, Sunday 15, Saturday 21, Sunday 22.

Quiet Day’s have been pensilled in for Saturday May 11 and  Friday September 13.

And new for 2024 is Heritage Week @Lough Derg and this is set to take place on Wednesday 21 and Thursday August 22.

St Patrick’s Sanctuary, Lough Derg lies some four miles north of the village of Pettigo. Station Island, the location of the Pilgrimage, is often referred to as Saint Patrick's Purgatory or simply Lough Derg. 

In 1780 Lough Derg came under the custodianship of the Diocese of Clogher. In the past 150 years, it is estimated that over 2 million people have spent time in prayer and contemplation on the Holy Island.