St Patrick's Purgatory in Lough Derg announced as national pilgrimage site

St Patrick’s Purgatory at Lough Derg has been designated as a national pilgrimage site for this year.

The decision was made during the Irish Bishops’ Conference in Maynooth.

St Patrick’s Purgatory has been designated as one of three national pilgrimage sites alongside Our Lady’s Shine in Knock and Croagh Patrick, also in County Mayo.

The Prior of Lough Derg, Monsignor Laurence Flynn, was commended by the bishops at the conference in Columba Centre of Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth.

Monsignor Flynn, Fr John Kenny - the administrator of Westport Parish - and the Parish Priest and Rector of the International Eucharistic and Marian Shrine at Knock, Fr Richard Gibbons, have created the concept of the ‘Pilgrim’s Passport’ to encourage people to set themselves the spiritual goal of visiting the three sites during this Jubilee year.  

Bishop Fintan Monahan of Killaloe, the Jubilee 2025 designate of the Bishops’ Conference, will participate in the online launch for the Pilgrim’s Passport which will take place at 3pm on March 26 in an online ceremony.

In December, a special ceremony was held at St Eunan’s Cathedral in Letterkenny to mark the beginning of the Jubilee Year 2025.

The Catholic Church celebrates a Jubilee Year every 25 years.

Pope Francis has described the Jubilee Year as “a time to rediscover the beauty of communion with God and with one another, a moment to open our hearts to the transforming power of grace, and to walk together as people of hope”.

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Jubilee Year 2025 will be marked by numerous spiritual events and activities at parish, diocesan, and national levels, including: pilgrimages to local and national shrines; monthly parish initiatives promoting prayer and reflection; and celebrations of key anniversaries, including the 400th anniversary of Saint Oliver Plunkett’s birth, and the centenary of Venerable Matt Talbot’s death.