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"The lake itself changes its wonted blue into a dull brown colour"

Knox observes a change in the weather

colour, James Spencer Knox, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, Travelogue, water, waves, weather
"The pilgrims throng the shore opposite to the island"

Knox describes the practices of the pilgrimage as he has heard them

crowds, ferry house, James Spencer Knox, nineteenth century, pilgrim crossing, Protestant critique, Travelogue
"The unbroken stillness of this consecrated spot, was exchanged to bustle, noise, and jarring, of a countless multitude"

Knox reflects on the recent Catholic activities on the land under his feet

Catholicism, James Spencer Knox, juxtaposition, nineteenth century, Protestant critique, Protestantism, sectarianism, temporality, Travelogue
"A boy was standing like a ballet dancer poised on the rock"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

County Donegal, distraction, imagery, landscape, Patrick Kavanagh, pilgrimage, poetry, rural landscape, St. Patrick's Cross, twentieth century, vista
"Beside St. Brigid’s Cross"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

medievalism, Patrick Kavanagh, poetry, queue, St. Brigid's Cross, timelessness, twentieth century
"It was said stone dreams and animal sleeps and man is awake"

The poetry of Dennis Devlin

blood, Dennis Devlin, Druid, history, poetry, stone, timelessness, twentieth century
"Low rocks, a few weasels, lake"

The poetry of Dennis Devlin

Dennis Devlin, fauna, isolation, poetry, religious identity, rocks, timelessness, topography, twentieth century, weasels
"Monks in convents of coracles"

The poetry of Dennis Devlin

boating, Dennis Devlin, history, Irish history, medievalism, monasticism, pilgrimage, poetry, timelessness, twentieth century
"Primeval magic among the trees"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

County Donegal, dawn, distraction, farming, landscape, mountains, Patrick Kavanagh, poetry, remoteness, renewal, revelation, rural landscape, twentieth century
"The green islands that were his morning hope and his evening despair"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

contemplation, inner landscape, islands, Jansenism, lake, landscape, Patrick Kavanagh, poetry, redemption, twentieth century, vista, water
"The lake waves caught the concrete stilts of the Basilica"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

Basilica, embodied experience, foundations, lake, Patrick Kavanagh, poetry, sadness, twentieth century, water, waves
"The little islands of Pan held in the crooked elbow of the lake"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

County Donegal, distraction, embodied experience, islands, location, miracle, mountains, Patrick Kavanagh, penance, poetry, poverty, remoteness, repetition, rural landscape, spiritual experience, twentieth century, vista
"The middle of the island looked like the memory Of some village evicted by the Famine"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

Irish Famine, material traces, memory, Patrick Kavanagh, poetry, ruins, social commentary, survivals, twentieth century
"The penance wheel turned round again"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

boating, departure, Fare Thee Well Lough Derg, Patrick Kavanagh, pilgrim crossing, pilgrimage, poetry, twentieth century
"The silver strands of the individual sometimes show"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

colour, embodied experience, Patrick Kavanagh, poetry, spiritual experience, subjectivity, twentieth century
"The turnips were a-sowing in the fields around Pettigo"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

1940s, commentary, context, departure, Patrick Kavanagh, Pettigo, poetry, train, twentieth century
"Three boatloads of Dublin’s unemployed came in"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

devotion, Dublin, Patrick Kavanagh, pilgrimage, poetry, poverty, social commentary, twentieth century, unemployment
"Water withers from the oars"

The poetry of Dennis Devlin

boating, Dennis Devlin, materiality, pilgrim crossing, poetry, social commentary, twentieth century, water, waves
"We pray to ourself. The metal moon, unspent"

The poetry of Dennis Devlin

colour, Dennis Devlin, devotional activities, landscape, moon, mountains, night, poetry, prayer, twentieth century
"For this is Lough Derg, St. Patrick’s Purgatory"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

class, isolation, laxity, negative description, Patrick Kavanagh, poetry, rural landscape, social commentary, twentieth century
"Their hands push closed the doors that God holds open"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

class, devotion, inner landscape, Irish identity, laxity, negative description, Patrick Kavanagh, pilgrimage, poetry, social commentary, twentieth century
"They come to Lough Derg to fast and pray and beg"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

1940s, desperation, negative description, Patrick Kavanagh, pilgrimage, poetry, poverty, social commentary, twentieth century
"Women and men in bare feet turn again"

The poetry of Patrick Kavanagh's 'Lough Derg', detailing a visit in 1941

discomfort, embodied experience, Patrick Kavanagh, penitential beds, pilgrimage, poetry, poverty, salvation, twentieth century
Bobby describes Station Island

Bobby, attempting to make peace with Jenny as she performs the pilgrimage, discusses the power of Station Island

austerity, lake, literature, medievalism, monasticism, negative description, religiosity, remoteness, Sean O'Faolain, short stories, timelessness, twentieth century
Bobby expresses his confusion

Bobby expresses his confusion at the extravagant embodied devotion and extreme austerity of the pilgrimage to Lough Derg and that it exposes a side of Jenny that he has never seen before.

car journey, confusion, Irish identity, literature, negative description, pilgrims, religiosity, Sean O'Faolain, short stories, twentieth century