Pilgrim Paths Week is an annual festival that continues until Sunday, with organised walks taking place on ancient pilgrims’ paths across the country.
I join the Lough Derg Pilgrim Path in Co Donegal on Monday. There’s an option to take a 12km or 8km circuit, and I opt for the longer route with about 70 others, led by guide Marcus Connolly.
Our group is a jumble of ages and abilities, with even a couple of dogs in the mix.
We follow a route used in the Middle Ages by pilgrims, who came from as far away as Spain, Italy and Hungary, to St Patrick’s Purgatory. We skirt around the lakeshore with wonderful views of Station Island, walking through moss and heather-carpeted forest, finally emerging from the trees on to the lakeshore at Saints Island, where sandwiches and drinks are consumed before looping back.
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It is relatively easy walking and along the path are information boards highlighting some of the key values of Lough Derg as a place of pilgrimage. When we arrive at these, Connolly invites us to pause and ponder. He also points out historical features associated with the area, including St Brigid’s Well where previous visitors have left rosary beads and pieces of cloth. Some walkers fill bottles with holy water.
There’s lots of chatting between strangers. Many are regulars and some have previously undertaken the rigorous three-day pilgrimage on nearby Station Island. But the strict programme of prayer while walking barefoot, fasting and no sleep were fine, one man claims. It was the midges, he remembers, as being the hardest penance.
