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Lough Derg or Loch Derg () is a
The traditional three-day pilgrimage follows a one-thousand-year-old pattern. It begins on any day between 1 June and 13 August and lasts three days during which participants may only have one Lough Derg meal each day (black tea/coffee, dry toast, oat cakes, water). On arrival on the island, participants remove footwear and socks before commencing vocal prayers, walking around the island. A 24-hour night vigil then takes place on the first night. Generally, pilgrims depart on the morning of the third day having slept on their second night. They complete their pilgrimage fast at midnight the day of departure. The pilgrimage is suitable for persons over 15 years. Pilgrims must be able to walk and kneel unaided and be physically able to undertake the fast.
Including Station Island, there are about 30 islands and islets in Lough Derg, including:
*Allingham's Island
*Ash Island
*Boat Island
*Bull's Island
*Derg Beg Island
*Derg More Island
*Friar's Island
*Goose Lodge
*Gravelands Islands
*Illan Philipboy
*Inishgoosk
*Kelly's Isles
*Long Island
*Saints Island (on which there is a graveyard and the buried ruins of a monastery)
*Trough Island
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
in County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...
, Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
. It is near the border with Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
and lies about north of the border village of Pettigo. It is best known for St Patrick's Purgatory, a site of pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
on Station Island in the lake. St. Patrick is said to have established the first Christian settlement here on Saint's Island. The pilgrimage was moved to Station Island in 1497.
The lake is about in size, but is quite shallow, making it dangerous during bad weather. It has stocks of pike, perch and brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...
for angling
Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...
.
Annual pilgrimage
The traditional three-day pilgrimage follows a one-thousand-year-old pattern. It begins on any day between 1 June and 13 August and lasts three days during which participants may only have one Lough Derg meal each day (black tea/coffee, dry toast, oat cakes, water). On arrival on the island, participants remove footwear and socks before commencing vocal prayers, walking around the island. A 24-hour night vigil then takes place on the first night. Generally, pilgrims depart on the morning of the third day having slept on their second night. They complete their pilgrimage fast at midnight the day of departure. The pilgrimage is suitable for persons over 15 years. Pilgrims must be able to walk and kneel unaided and be physically able to undertake the fast.
Islands
Including Station Island, there are about 30 islands and islets in Lough Derg, including:
*Allingham's Island
*Ash Island
*Boat Island
*Bull's Island
*Derg Beg Island
*Derg More Island
*Friar's Island
*Goose Lodge
*Gravelands Islands
*Illan Philipboy
*Inishgoosk
*Kelly's Isles
*Long Island
*Saints Island (on which there is a graveyard and the buried ruins of a monastery)
*Trough Island
Folklore
According to folklore a man named Conan once threw a worm into the lake. The worm then grew into a large monster called Caoránach that devoured the local cattle. Once a majority of the cattle in Ulster died the locals blamed Conan who then enraged attacked the beast, killing it. Its blood dyed the rocks red and this is where the name Lough Derg comes from.See also
*List of loughs in Ireland
This is an alphabetical list of loughs (lakes) on the island of Ireland. It also shows a table of the largest loughs. The word ''loch, lough'' is pronounced like ''loch'' () and comes from the Irish language, Irish ''loch'', meaning ''lake''.
Acc ...
References
Derg
The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...
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