Author - John B. Cunningham

Lough Derg is one of the most famous pilgrimages in Christendom - a pilgrimage which has its origins in that mixture of fact and fiction which makes up the history of the early Irish Church. Around two million pilgrimages will have been there in this century alone apart from the countless millions of people who have come here to fast and pray of the previous centuries.

Lough Derg is a unique phenomenon of the Irish Church; a monument to the way Catholicism is practised in Ireland and probably a continuation of the conviction of the early Church in general that suffering endured and offered up was one of the chief means of obtaining spiritual benefit. Croagh Patrick in County Mayo is probably the only other pilgrimage in Christendom which requires for it's performance a similar degree of strength, stamina and determination as well as firm religious conviction. Many, many people have written about Lough Derg from the Benedictine monks, Henry of Saltrey, writing in the 12th century, to the recent short publication of Bishop Joseph Duffy, Bishop of Clogher. Some, in times gone by, have written about it as a curiosity or supertitious wonder, some have violently denounced it, and other have written so fondly about it that their fondness has in places overcome their regard for the factual truth. It is a fascinating parade of writers who have written about Lough Derg and no one has yet captured it all nor does this writer expect to. There is one aspect, however, that this author hopes to cover which has not yet been attempted and that is to try to set the pilgrimage in the context of the area in which it lies. Could any institution, religious or otherwise, have existed for such a long time, on rocky islands in a remote lake, surrounded by a most barren landscape, without the utmost assistance of its immediate locality? Lough Derg could not have survived with the help of the local environment and its people, and while the Pilgrimage influenced the environment in some ways it is also true that the environment has influenced the Pilgimage.

This A5 book of 102 pages has 6 photographs and 5 maps and is available from the author:- The book costs £10 GBP plus £2.50 P&P. Phone 0044(0)2868658327 Email adam4eves@aol.com