Barefoot and hungry pilgrims keep returning to Ireland’s most grueling pilgrimage

Just a mention of Lough Derg summons tales of sleep deprivation, discomfort, and hunger, but it’s a deeply spiritual place of renewal and hope, from which faithful pilgrims often emerge reborn through the rituals of self-purification. / Credit: Lough Derg

Dublin, Ireland, May 31, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).

This weekend, the Jubilee of Hope pilgrimage season will open in Ireland and the first cohort of 2025 pilgrims will disembark on a small island called St. Patrick’s Purgatory located on Lough Derg, a remote inland lake in County Donegal, after a short 10-minute boat journey. 

Lough Derg is renowned among the faithful for its physically grueling but spiritually uplifting three-day pilgrimage. 

Just the mention of Lough Derg in Ireland summons tales of sleep deprivation, discomfort, and hunger, but it’s a deeply spiritual place of renewal and hope from which faithful pilgrims often emerge reborn through the rituals of self-purification. 

The site dates back at least to the 1100s when Henry of Saltrey, a Benedictine monk, wrote of the exploits of a Knight Owain who visited St. Patrick’s Purgatory. It is said to have influenced the first book of Dante’s “Divine Comedy” and is alluded to by Hamlet.

Once dubbed the “Ironman of Pilgrimages,” Lough Derg is approached with stoicism by those who embark on it: with trepidation, careful selection of suitable clothing, and a necessary dose of black humor. Many who make the three-day pilgrimage feel compelled to repeat it, citing the searing and visceral self-examination and reflection brought about by intense prayer, atonement, fasting, and physical mortification of going barefoot. They say that upon completion there follows a unique spiritual and prayerful renewal. Pilgrims are drawn there for many reasons: to give thanks or do penance, or out of grief, love, curiosity, tradition, or duty. But faith is always at the fore. 

Although the pilgrimage season is during the summer, it is more often characterized by cold, wet Irish weather exacerbated by lack of sleep, fasting, and blisters.

*What’s the draw?*

So what is it that attracts pilgrims every year, so many of them repeat visitors? 

Dr. Lee Casey from Derry has been a frequent pilgrim, sometimes going twice in the same year. His parents did made the pilgrimage on their honeymoon. Lee hopes to return this year after recovering from a bout of serious illness that literally took him off his feet. He told CNA: “It is the only place on earth that you get the spiritual fix that you get from Lough Derg.”

Pilgrims remain on the island for two nights, arriving around noon on the first day and departing the morning of the third day. Fasting begins at midnight prior to arrival and lasts until midnight on the third day, when the person has returned home. One Lough Derg meal a day is permitted: black tea, coffee, dry toast, oatcakes.

Upon setting foot on the island, pilgrims divest themselves of food and drink as well as phones and other electronic devices. Footwear is removed for the duration of the stay; rugged bare rocks thenceforth are a constant presence under bare feet.

Pilgrims remain on the island for two nights, arriving around noon on the first day and departing the morning of the third day. Fasting begins at midnight prior to arrival and lasts until midnight on the third day, when the person has returned home. Credit: Lough Derg

*Station prayers*

Station prayers repeated on penitential prayer beds of bare stone leave a lasting impact on pilgrims, on their knees and feet. These prayer beds that form the central part of the prayer program are remnants of the old beehive “prayer” cells used by ninth-century monks. 

The station prayers can be described as “body” prayers where the emphasis is on kneeling and walking while reciting basic prayers like the Our Father, Hail Mary, and the Creed. Nine station prayers are completed over the three days, and each takes about an hour to complete. Pilgrims say that after a while it becomes meditative.

*The Vigil*

The Vigil lasting 24 hours on the first night is the heart of the experience as pilgrims journey together in watchful prayer staying alert despite the intense desire to sleep. 

Liturgies celebrated include the Eucharist, the sacrament of reconciliation, and the Way of the Cross. There is time for reflection.

“Lough Derg is a great place to bring burdens and leave them behind and often it is the unexpected that surprises us — a thought emerges, a new idea, a different way of looking at something,” Monsignor La Flynn, prior of Lough Derg pilgrimage site, told CNA. “Or perhaps, the gift of this time away from everything provides an opportunity to be at peace, to empty the mind, and to listen to the whisper of our God,” he said.

He added: “The ebb and flow of the pilgrimage — the strenuous pilgrimage exercise coupled with times of peaceful reflection — are about opening us to receptivity, about finding a new honesty and humility that we can take with us into our daily lives.

Station Prayers repeated on penitential prayer beds of bare stone leave a lasting impact on pilgrims, on their knees and feet. These prayer beds that form the central part of the prayer program are remnants of the old beehive “prayer” cells used by ninth-century monks. Credit: Michel Petillo/Lough Derg

*Returning pilgrims*

Aidan Gallagher lives in Newry, County Down. A frequent visitor to Lough Derg for years, he told CNA he plans to be there this year. “Yes, I intend going this year, please God. Why? It’s a powerful reset. Each time I go, it reminds me of how much we have in the world, but how little we actually need.”

“It’s also good opportunity to say thanks, for what I’ve been given, and what I have not. It’s a very powerful place, just the atmosphere and spirit there, with the wind, rain, waves, scenery, the fasting and prayer, and especially the people you meet. You can meet God there too and while it’s a tough pilgrimage, it definitely does the soul good.”

Casey agrees the isolation adds to the experience. “It’s just a fantastic place, the stillness, the quietness, and the beauty of it is just unique.”

Gallagher added: “It’s also a powerful place to remember loved ones — alive or passed on. I often think of the millions of people over 1,500 years who came here before me, who smoothed out the rough stones for me. All those people praying with their heart for loved ones, wives and children, brothers and sisters, for peace, justice, and I often think, where are they now? And for me the answer is obvious.”

Tracy Harkin is a busy mother of eight children who plans to make the pilgrimage this year as well. “It’s been a few years since I’ve been there,” she said. “It’s difficult, but a spiritually powerful pilgrimage like no other. Prayers are always answered.”

Seosamh Ó Gallachóir has completed the Lough Derg pilgrimage for as many years as he can remember. During COVID-19, when the island was closed, he replicated the strenuous pilgrimage exercises at his home in County Tyrone. He draws a deep sense of spiritual fulfillment from making the Lough Derg pilgrimage. 

Lough Derg is renowned among the faithful in Ireland for its physically grueling but spiritually uplifting three-day pilgrimage in which pilgrms walk barefoot, fast, and pray. Credit: Michel Petillo/Lough Derg

Ó Gallachóir makes the simple pilgrim rations sound like a gourmet feast. “The lure of the Lough Derg soup [is enough] to stave off the hunger pangs. The recipe is well known and simple: hot water with a hint of salt and pepper. The death and resurrection cycle of this three-day pilgrimage lends itself to a feeling of great euphoria when completed.” 

*Prepping for the experience*

When asked what to bring to the holy island — and what not to bring — the intrepid pilgrims offered advice both temporal and spiritual. 

Drawing on more than 40 visits, Gallachóir’s advice is simple: “Bring a spare set of warm clothes, hat, waterproof coat, and leggings, and don’t forget your rosary beads.”

And what not to bring? “Mobile phones, radios, or any electronic devices. No food allowed or bottled drinks and no personal musical instruments allowed,” he said.

Gallagher agreed with his fellow pilgrims on what to pack, adding that pilgrims should leave “impatience” at home. “When the pilgrimage at Lough Derg is over you leave behind your sins, bad opinions about yourself, any mental burdens. The priest says you can leave all these behind you on the island when you leave.”

Harkin’s pilgrimage survival kit includes insect repellent and leaves behind “all those books you think you will read. You will be too busy praying and too tired to read when the praying is done.”

“Leave behind your vanity bag, you just won’t care enough! Leave behind all your worries and cares. You will be too hungry, cold, and exhausted to think of anything other than finally getting into a warm bed on that second night.”

“Don’t forget your sense of humor, it will get you through those three days,” she said. 

For the 2025 Jubilee Year, visitors to all three of Ireland’s main shrines — Lough Derg, Croagh Patrick, and Knock Shrine — can get a unique pilgrim passport stamped.