Return to the island -Lough Derg reopens to pilgrims


JUST days before the celebration of the saint himself, it has been announced St Patrick’s Sanctuary at Lough Derg will be reopened to pilgrims this summer. Having been forced to close for the last two summers due to the Covid pandemic – the first time since 1828 the pilgrimage had to be suspended – the famous holy site will […]


Lough Derg pilgrimages going online


IT’S A far cry from its fifth-century roots, and would have been unimaginable for the tens of thousands of pilgrims who have made the sacred journey to the island in centuries past, but Lough Derg has gone digital. In an unprecedented move by the 1500-year-old holy site, which is usually packed with pilgrims at this […]


Lough Derg priest ‘humbled’ by new title


LOUGH Derg Prior Fr Laurence Flynn has been named Monsignor by Pope Francis. It was announced this week that Fr La Flynn a priest of the Diocese of Clogher had the honour of ‘Chaplain to His Holiness’ conferred by Pope Francis.  This carries with it the title of Monsignor which means that the priest has […]


Lough Derg numbers buck decade of decline


FOR the first time in a decade pilgrimage numbers at Lough Derg have increased. Scores of additional visitors joined three day pilgrimages this year. Fr La Flynn commenting at the end of the three day pilgrimage season said, “My heart is lifted by a little sign of hope in terms of our numbers. People often […]