St Patrick’s Purgatory has increase in pilgrims as economy collapses

timesonline.co.uk ^ | July 28, 2009 | David Sharrock

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With bare feet, they shuffle around the island muttering prayers; pain and suffering writ on their faces and a rainstorm breaking over them.

An ancient pilgrimage set in what medieval Christians called “the ends of the world” is undergoing a revival in Ireland as economic woes prompt a spiritual reawakening.

St Patrick’s Purgatory, on Station Island, a rocky islet in the midst of Lough Derg, was once Christendom’s premier pilgrimage. Its renown was based on the belief that it was a gateway to the next world and a place where penance could be matched to any sin.

Now that the material world of the Celtic “tiger” economy lies in ruins, the annual pilgrimage season is providing evidence that Ireland is returning to its roots as an island of saints and scholars.

The Lough Derg pilgrimage repeats much of the experiences to which 6th-century monks subjected themselves: a journey, lengthy periods of fasting, long litanies of prayer and physical penances.

“If the hunger doesn’t get you, then there’s always the cold or the lack of sleep to battle,” said Mary, one of three women who are participating for the fifth time. “And finally, if you can deal with all of that, the midges will eat you alive.”

“It’s madness,” Pat Maguire said. “What are we doing here, walking around these buildings and rocks with no shoes on in a strict order for days on end?”

He answered his own question, however. “It brings you back to basics — you can be standing next to a judge and suddenly your position in life doesn’t matter here, you’re all in your bare feet.”

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