Browse items

Saints Island Quay Archaeological Survey

It is traditionally believed that a monastic settlement was founded here in the fifth century by St. Patrick who installed Dabheoc as the first abbot. There are forty-six islands in Lough Derg but only two of them are of archaeological interest. The…

Archaeological survey, boating, dryness, medieval, monasticism, pilgrim crossing, quay, Saints' Island, Saints' Island townland
Saints Island Bridge Archaeological Survey

It is traditionally believed that a monastic settlement was founded here in the fifth century by St. Patrick who installed Dabheoc as the first abbot. There are forty-six islands in Lough Derg but only two of them are of archaeological interest. The…

Archaeological survey, bridge, Lough Derg Townland, Saints' Island
St. Davog's Chair Archaeological Survey

According to Margaret Stokes (1882), there was a 'Giant's Grave' at Carn. Her small-scale distribution map places it a short distance SE of Lough Derg. It is not known to what site she was referring, but it may have been the feature named 'St.…

Archaeological survey, St. Dabheoc's Seat
Seavog Mountain Pilgrim Road Archaeological Survey

It is traditionally believed that a monastic settlement (DG0101-001001/005-) was founded on Saints Island in the fifth century by St. Patrick who installed Dabheoc as the first abbot. The original monastic settlement is believed to have been located…

Archaeological survey, description, Station Island, summary
"A clear barometer"

An extract from Seamus Heaney's poem 'Station Island'

concentration, pilgrimage, poetry, Rome, Seamus Heaney, Station Island, water, water station
"Towards the bottle-green, still / Shade of an oak"

An extract from Seamus Heaney's poem 'Station Island'

Basilica, imagination, memory, oak tree, place, poetry, recollection, Seamus Heaney, Station Island
"An Excursion into the Fifth Century"

The opening paragraph's of Alice Curtayne's 1932 pamphlet about Lough Derg

1930s, Alice Curtayne, Catholicism, Irish Free State, National Identity, pilgrimage, twentieth century
"A rock, which, rising to the surface of the water, the breeze had exposed"

Knox reveals that the "serpent" is a rock

debunking, elitism, James Spencer Knox, negative description, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, scientism, superstition, Travelogue
"A spreading hawthorn tree"

Knox visits a lone tree on an island, a home of fairies in local folklore

fairies, Folklore, Hawthorn, James Spencer Knox, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, Sidhe, Travelogue, tree
"He had swallowed up a very wicked man"

Knox asks questions about the monster, which appears to devour sinners but largely emerges just above the water

elitism, James Spencer Knox, mentalities, morality, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, sacrifice, sectarianism, superstition, Travelogue
"I insisted that they should take me to an island"

Knox wishes to visit an island in the upper lake

boating, boatmen, elitism, islands, James Spencer Knox, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, Travelogue, upper lake
"So ended my pilgrimage to Lough Derg"

Knox advises Protestant travellers to visit Loug Derg and see Catholic folly

Catholic Church, elitism, James Spencer Knox, negative description, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, Protestantism, recommendations, sectarianism, Travelogue
"They told the marvellous incidents of the voyage to their listening friends"

Knox stands on the rock to demonstrate his powers of deduction, an event which results in much storytelling upon the return to shore

credulity, elitism, ferry house, Folklore, James Spencer Knox, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, scientism, sectarianism, storytelling, Travelogue
"They would make a Jonas of me against my will"

Knox reasons that the boatmen would prefer that the monster eat the heretic reverend rather than them

elitism, James Spencer Knox, monster, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, sectarianism, serpent, superstition, Travelogue
"What we saw was the great serpent or fish"

Knox describes the fear of his Irish boatmen at the appearance of a lake monster, which he sees as a rock just above the waterline

elitism, Folklore, James Spencer Knox, lake, monster, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, rock, serpent, superstition, Travelogue
"A lonely and remote region"

Knox describes Lough Derg as remote and obscure

isolation, James Spencer Knox, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, rural landscape, Travelogue
"A miracle! - A miracle!"

Knox criticises the superstitious hysteria for miraculous cures

Catholicism, crowds, cure, devotional activities, James Spencer Knox, miracle, nineteenth century, pilgrimage, Protestant critique, Travelogue
"All was as still as death"

Knox describes the deserted scene on Station Island

emptiness, isolation, James Spencer Knox, landing, nineteenth century, pilgrim crossing, pilgrims, Protestant critique, Travelogue, women's history
"An incredible quantity of rags"

Knox describes the scattered bloodied rags showing traces of the bodily rigours of the pilgrimage

austerity, embodied experience, injury, James Spencer Knox, nineteenth century, penitential beds, Protestant critique, rags, Travelogue
"I at length reached the goal of my long-nourished desire"

Knox describes the scene of crowds waiting to cross to Station Island

boating, crowds, James Spencer Knox, nineteenth century, pilgrim crossing, Protestant critique, Travelogue
"I gazed on the distant borders of the Lake"

Knox muses on the link between agriculture and spiritual rectitude

agriculture, cultivation, James Spencer Knox, morality, nineteenth century, parable, Protestant critique, Travelogue, upper lake
"I had long experienced extreme anxiety to visit"

Knox describes the circumstances of his arrival

James Spencer Knox, nineteenth century, penitential beds, pilgrimage, Protestant critique, rain, Station Island, Travelogue, weather
"Multitudes of the lower classes of the native Irish"

On the crowds of pilgrims travelling to the site and their motivations

Catholicism, class, elitism, James Spencer Knox, nineteenth century, pilgrimage, Protestant critique, Protestantism, Travelogue
"So far shalt thou go, and no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed"

Knox considers the agriculture surrounding Lough Derg as a spiritual parable

Catholic Church, exegesis, James Spencer Knox, landscape, morality, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, scripture, sectarianism, sermon, theology, Travelogue
"So long as the Church of Rome finds dupes"

Knox reflects on the cause of the "fraud" of miracles

Catholic Church, James Spencer Knox, miracle, negative description, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, Protestantism, Rome, sectarianism, Travelogue