For the Lough Derg Day of Friendship and Prayer this year, 15th May 2019, today’s growing challenges around homelessness, migration and social exclusion have led to the invitation of Fr Peter McVerry as the guest speaker who will address the topic: ‘The Social Gospel – Meeting Christ on the Margins.’ Lough Derg’s geographical location in […]

St Brigid’s Day 2019 Our lovely St Brigid window in St Mary’s Chapel features the oak leaves and acorns associated with Kildare / Cill Dara.  But surely the most immediate image we associate with Brigid is the cross woven from rushes that bears her name.  The story goes that one day when she was visiting […]

Lough Derg began the 2018 Pilgrimage Season on 5th May with its programme of One Day Retreats. High among our prayer commitments just now is the significant choice that faces the Irish electorate in the Referendum on the 25th May.  The implications of that choice weigh heavily at this time as it is debated in […]

Fr La Flynn shares an Easter reflection from the Water’s Edge on Lough Derg.     

The Prior, Fr La Flynn, shares a little of the story of ‘Patrick the Pilgrim’ statue here at the national shrine to St Patrick, Station Island, Lough Derg. “The statue of St Patrick at the lake shore at the Sanctuary of St Patrick, Lough Derg, was created by Ken Thompson, the Cork sculptor, to mark […]

Dear Lough Derg friends, have you noticed how Mothers Day always falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent? In fact its roots are entangled with this time in the Christian calendar. In medieval Britain the Fourth Sunday of Lent was observed as a pilgrimage day to the cathedral as the ‘Mother Church’ of the diocese. […]

The Gospel this 3rd Sunday of Lent finds Jesus on pilgrimage. He has come to the Temple in Jerusalem for Passover. But his pilgrimage is a disappointment. He sees so much that needs to change for God’s holy Temple to be what it’s meant to be. For us too, both as pilgrims to Lough Derg […]

The bare feet that are the tradition on the Lough Derg Pilgrimage are a token of penance. But they also speak of reverence for holy ground.  They come to mind as I ponder Mark’s story of the Transfiguration of Jesus for the second Sunday of Lent.  Like Moses before the Burning Bush and Elijah at […]

Pilgrims of the Three Day Pilgrimage on Lough Derg are familiar with the power of prayer and fasting. We invite you to read more about the Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace on 23rd February 2018. Pope’s Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace, Friday, February 23, 2018  

“In the gospel this first Sunday of Lent Jesus finds himself put to the test by the Evil One. What a victory for evil if Jesus had gone down at this first fence!  As our Lenten pilgrimage begins, we must expect to have our resolve put to the test even in these first days. An […]