St. Patrick's Purgatory - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

St Patrick's Purgatory is an ancient pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

site on Station Island in Lough Derg

Lough Derg (Donegal)

Lough Derg is a small lake in County Donegal, Ireland, about seven kilometres north of the border village of Pettigoe...

, County Donegal

County Donegal

County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. According to legend, the site dates from the fifth century, when Christ showed Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....

a cave, sometimes referred to as a pit, on Station Island that was an entrance to the hell.
Its importance in medieval times is clear from the fact that it is mentioned clearly in texts from as early as 1185 and shown on maps from all over Europe as early as the fifteenth century. It is the only Irish site designated on Martin Behaim

Martin Behaim

Martin Behaim , was a German mariner, artist, cosmographer, astronomer, philosopher, geographer and explorer in service to the King of Portugal.-Biography:The Behaim family had immigrated to Nuremberg because of religious persecution around...

's world map of 1492.

Location

In the nineteenth century there was some confusion about the actual site of the Purgatory — whether it was on Station Island or Saints Island on Lough Derg, County Donegal. For instance the early nineteenth-century Ordnance Survey maps of Ireland (1837–42) locate the Purgatory on Saints Island. However, its location on Station Island is a tradition that continues unbroken from the Middle Ages. It is clearly indicated on documents dating from that time, and it appears as "Caverna Purgatory" on the detailed map of Station Island in Fr. Thomas Carve's book, Lyra Hibernica (1666).

Foundation

Legend maintains that St. Patrick had grown discouraged by the doubts of his potential converts, who told him they would not believe his teachings until they had substantial proof. St. Patrick prayed that God would help him relate the Word of God and convert the Irish people, and in return, God revealed to him a pit in the ground, which he called Purgatory; by showing this place to the people, they would believe all that he said. By witnessing Purgatory

Purgatory

Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...

, the people would finally know the reality of the joys of heaven and the torments of hell.

Given the sparsity of any documentation for fifth-century Ireland, it is not surprising that there is no proof that St. Patrick ever visited to Lough Derg. And while this is the legend, it is a rather late legend dating probably from the twelfth century. There is however a much more firmly established tradition regarding St. Dabheog

St. Dabheog

Saint Dabheog is the patron saint of Lough Derg, a lake in County Donegal, Ireland, near the town of Pettigo and shouldering the border of counties Donegal and Fermanagh. Biographical knowledge of this local cult saint is vague, although local records indicate his presence as abbot of Lough Derg...

or Dabheoc, a local abbot who presided over, and possibly established, the monastery on the site during the lifetime of Patrick. His name has been associated from these early centuries with several places in the area, for instance: St. Dabheoc’s Chair on the south bank of Lough Derg, the townland of Seedavoc (St. Dabheoc’s Seat), and a mountain in that townland, Seavadog Mountain. One of the islands in Lough Derg was also named after him: St. Dabheoc’s Island, which may have been Saints Island or another island entirely.

The cave

Although the cave has been closed since October 25, 1632, several descriptions by early pilgrims survive. They referred to it as a cave or cellar or as an enclosed pit. The entrance, which was kept closed and locked, was quite narrow: about 2 feet wide and 3 feet high. Once inside there was a short descent of about six steps. The cave was divided into two parts: the first was about 9 feet long, probably with banked sides and only high enough to kneel in; after a turn there was another niche about 5 feet long.

Since the site has never been excavated, we can only rely at this point on these descriptions of the cave. However based on other archeological excavations it seems clear that this was probably an ancient structure. Some have suggested a souterrain

Souterrain

Souterrain is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the Atlantic Iron Age. These structures appear to have been brought northwards from Gaul during the late Iron Age. Regional names include earth houses, fogous and Pictish houses...

, a place for storing crops and animals. However, the size of the cave would make this seem very unlikely. A much more plausible suggestion is that it was one of the ancient sweat houses, which were actually still in use in Ireland into the twentieth century. From modern practice we know that people would enter these small enclosed places to inhale medicinal smoke produced by burning various plants. The name “purgatorium” could possibly have been used here originally with its Latin meaning as a place for cleansing and purging — much like a modern sauna; especially since the modern notion of “purgatory” as a place for punishment in the afterlife did not come into common use until the thirteenth century. The cave would then have been a place that people went to for physical or spiritual healing, even before it became associated with St. Patrick in the twelfth century as a place for strictly spiritual healing.

The monastery and its functions

A monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

probably existed on the islands in Lough Derg from the fifth century and it probably included anchorite

Anchorite

Anchorite denotes someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life...

s who lived in beehive cells — which may be preserved in some form in the penitential beds that can still be seen on Station Island.

Around 1130 the monastery was given to Augustinian Canons Regular

Canons Regular

Canons Regular are members of certain bodies of Canons living in community under the Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common...

by the authority of the cathedral in Armagh

Armagh

Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...

, under Saint Malachy

Saint Malachy

Saint Malachy was the Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and a vision of the identity of the last 112 Popes...

. The monastery on Saints Island offered hospitality to pilgrims, who would visit in a spirit of penance and prayer. It also served as a place where pilgrims could prepare themselves for visiting the Purgatory. Documents report that pilgrims who did want to visit the Purgatory would arrive with letters of permission from a bishop, either from their own region or from Armagh. They would then spend fifteen days fasting and praying to prepare themselves for the visit to Station Island, a short boat ride away. At the end of the fifteen days, pilgrims would confess their sins, receive communion and undergo a few final rituals before being locked in the cave for twenty-four hours. The next morning the prior would open the door, and if the pilgrim were found alive, he would be brought back to Saints Island for another fifteen days of prayer and fasting.

From the time of St. Dabheoc, it appears that this region attracted pilgrims from far and wide. By the twelfth century they came from all over continental Europe, most likely sailing from England and landing at Dublin or Drogheda. From those ports they would make their way by foot, stopping at monasteries along the way on what would probably be a two-week journey across the Irish countryside to their destination. In this period many sinners and criminals were sent on pilgrimage to atone for their deeds and seek forgiveness. St. Patrick’s Purgatory would be a likely destination for these penitential pilgrims, or exiles, since communities of anchorites were often considered to have special power to absolve them.

The monastery was dissolved in 1632, although the local lord apparently allowed the monks to remain. By 1710 the Franciscans were present on the island in the summer to administer to the needs of the pilgrims. They built a church, St. Mary of the Angels, on Station Island in 1763. In 1785, administration of Station Island came into the hands of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher

Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher was formed in 1111 at the Synod of Rathbreasail as the see for the Kingdom of Uí Chremthainn. The Diocese consists of County Monaghan, much of County Fermanagh with parts of Counties Tyrone, and Donegal...

Modern pilgrimage

There is no evidence that the pilgrimage to St. Patrick’s Purgatory was ever interrupted for any period of time. It continues even today, after almost fifteen-hundred years. Every year the main pilgrimage season begins in late May/early June and ends mid-August, on the 15th, the feast of the Assumption of Mary

Assumption of Mary

According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...

. It is a three-day pilgrimage open to pilgrims of all religions, or none, who must be at least fifteen years of age, in good health and able to walk and kneel unaided. Pilgrims, who should begin fasting at the previous midnight, assemble at the Visitor Centre on the shore of Lough Derg early in the day (between about 10 am and 1 pm). From there a boat ferries them on the brief trip out to Station Island. Once on the island they are assigned a dormitory room, and barefoot they begin a specified and almost continuous cycle of prayer and liturgies.

These prayers — the Our Father (or Lord's Prayer

Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...

), the Hail Mary

Hail Mary

The Angelic Salutation, Hail Mary, or Ave Maria is a traditional biblical Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Hail Mary is used within the Catholic Church, and it forms the basis of the Rosary...

and the Apostles' Creed

Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...

(all included in a booklet they receive)— are carried out at designated 'stations' on the island, including six 'beds' that are the remains of ancient cells or beehive huts

Clochan

A Clochán is a dry-stone hut with a corbelled roof, dating from the early Middle Ages or earlier. Most archaeologists think these structures were built on the southwestern coast of Ireland since the Bronze Age. They are most commonly round beehive huts, but rectangular plans are known as well....

, named for famous — principally Irish — saints. These are thought to be the remains of early monastic cells

Monasticism

Monasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...

.

Pilgrims spend the first night in the island's basilica in prayer, and only on the second night can they finally sleep in the dormitory. Each day on the island the pilgrims have one simple meal of dry toast, oatcakes and black tea or coffee. On the third morning they are ferried back to the mainland, where they will continue their fast until midnight.

There are also other programs throughout the year, including Quiet Days, Family Days, and One-Day Retreats.

The site is under the stewardship of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher

Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher

. The staff includes people who can help with both spiritual and practical concerns. Facilities include a kitchen, laundry, first-aid station and book/gift shop.

Literature

Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii
Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii
Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii is a Latin text authored in c. 1180-84 by a monk who identifies himself as H. of Saltrey...

is a 12th-Century account in Latin of a pilgrimage to St Patrick's Purgatory. Marie de France

Marie de France

Marie de France was a medieval poet who was probably born in France and lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an undisclosed court, but was almost certainly at least known about at the royal court of King Henry II of England...

translated it into French and expanded it into the Legend of the Purgatory of St. Patrick
Legend of the Purgatory of St. Patrick
L'Espurgatoire Seint Patriz or The Legend of the Purgatory of Saint Patrick is a 12th century poem by Marie de France. It is an Old French translation of a Latin text Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii by the monk Henry of Saltrey. However, Marie's version is amplified from the original...

.

Other medieval works include The Knight of Hungary, or George Grissophan, Provençal, mid-14th C.; the Vision of Louis of France (Visio Ludovici de Francia), French, 1358; the Vision of Raymond de Perehlos, 1397; The Vision of William Staunton, English, after 1409; and the Vision of Laurent Rathold de Pasztho, 1411. A fascinating account of a visit to Lough Derg by Spanish pilgrim Ramon de Perillos in 1397 is given in Haren and de Pontfarcy's book., along with several other pilgrims' accounts.

Station Island (poetry)
Station Island (poetry)
Station Island is a collection of poems written by Irish Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney.The title refers to Station Island in Donegal, Ireland, a famous site of pilgrimage from the Middle Ages to the present day...

is a long poem written by Séamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...

about his experience of the pilgrimage. Other well-known poets, such as Denis Devlin

Denis Devlin

Denis Devlin was, along with Samuel Beckett and Brian Coffey, one of the generation of Irish modernist poets to emerge at the end of the 1920s. He was also a career diplomat.-Early life and studies:...

and Patrick Kavanagh

Patrick Kavanagh

Patrick Kavanagh was an Irish poet and novelist. Regarded as one of the foremost poets of the 20th century, his best known works include the novel Tarry Flynn and the poems Raglan Road and The Great Hunger...

wrote works on St. Patrick’s Purgatory as well. "The Lough Derg Pilgrim" by the Irish writer William Carleton

William Carleton

William Carleton was an Irish novelist.Carleton's father was a Roman Catholic tenant farmer, who supported fourteen children on as many acres, and young Carleton passed his early life among scenes similar to those he later described in his books...

recounts his experience there, which led him to abandon thoughts of becoming a Roman Catholic priest; he converted to the Church of Ireland

Church of Ireland

The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...

. Pete McCarthy

Pete McCarthy

Pete McCarthy , was a British broadcaster and successful travel writer, noted for his books McCarthy's Bar and The Road to McCarthy.-Biography:...

's visit in 1998 is described in McCarthy's Bar.

Pilgrims

Since the records were destroyed in 1632, we have no way of knowing exactly how many people made the pilgrimage each year in those days. However, since that time, records are available. and we know, for example, that in 1700, 5,000 pilgrims were recorded for the season; by 1826 the number of pilgrims grew to 15,000, and to 30,000 by 1846, just before the onset of the Great Famine. From 1871 to 1903 approximately 3,000 pilgrims visited annually; and from 1908 to 1921, the number averaged over 8,000. From 1929 to the end of the century the number never fell below 10,000 pilgrims, and in many years was twice, and sometimes thrice, that number. The site has been attracting about 30,000 pilgrims in recent years during the main part of the pilgrimage season from early June until August 15.

Notable pilgrims include:

Georgius Ungarus, also George Crissaphan or George Grissaphan (Krizsafán fia György, in Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....

), knight in the army of Louis I of Hungary
Malatesta Ungaro
Malatesta Ungaro
Ungaro Malatesta , born Galeotto Malatesta, was an Italian condottiero and lord of Jesi.He was the son of Malatesta Guastafamiglia, lord of Pesaro and Rimini...

, Italian condottiero
Laurence Rathold of Pászthó or Laurentius Tar (Tar Lőrinc, in Hungarian), a courtier in the court of Sigismund
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...

of Luxembourg, king of Hungary – the report of his pilgrimage: "memoriale super visitatione Domini Laurencii Ratholdi militis et baronis Ungariae factum de purgatorio sancti Patricii in insula Hiberniae" (in Hungarian http://lazadas.ho8.com/www.tar.hu/lazadas/tar.htm)
Guillebert de Lannoy
Guillebert de Lannoy
Guillebert de Lannoy , was a Flemish traveler and diplomat, chamberlain to the duke of Burgundy, governor of the fort of Sluys, and a knight of the Golden Fleece....

, a chamberlain to the duke of Burgundy and knight of the Golden Fleece, made the pilgrimage in 1430.
Francesco Chiericati, papal nuncio, visited the site in 1522
Mary McAleese
Mary McAleese
Mary Patricia McAleese served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in...

- President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
Frank Duff - Founder of the Legion of Mary
Legion of Mary
The Legion of Mary is an association of Catholic laity who serve the Church on a voluntary basis. It was founded in Dublin, Ireland, as a Roman Catholic Marian Movement by layman Frank Duff. Today between active and auxiliary members there are in excess of 10 million members worldwide making it...

There are thirty-three pilgrims to St. Patrick’s Purgatory between c. 1146 and 1517 who can be identified by name.Thirty-two are listed in Haren and de Pontfarcy; Francesco Chiericati saw the name of the 33rd, Guarino da Durazzo, in a book on Station Island during his visit, before all of the records on St. Patrick’s Purgatory were presumably destroyed on October 25, 1632.

External links

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