Purgatory Of St. Patrick In Lough Derg.

As at this season many pious Christians visit the Purgatory of St. Patrick in Lough Derg, for the performance of penitential works, we have been requested to supply, from authentic sources, a history of that pilgrimage. In compliance with this request we give the following account of it, extracted from Dr. Moran's History of the Archbishops Of Dublin, where he treats of Dr. Fleming.44 That Archbishop writing on the 20th of August, 1625, to the Internuncio in Brusselles, makes the following statement:

“The pious and innumerable pilgrimages of the faithful this year are a pledge of great fervour; for, like bees to the beehive, so do they daily flock in such numbers from every corner of the kingdom, for penitential purposes, to a certain island, which is called the Purgatory of St. Patrick, and which is situated in the centre of a lake, that many have been obliged to return without satisfying their pious desire, there being no room for landing on the island. This pilgrimage, though, through the bitter persecutions of heresy, it has been almost abandoned for many years, was once so celebrated throughout the Christian world, that many from the most distant parts even of the continent visited it in a spirit of devotion. The manner of performing the pilgrimage as it is now observed from ancient tradition, is as follows:—Each person, from the day he arrives in the island till the tenth following day, never departs from it. All this time is, without intermission, devoted to fasting, watching, and prayer. If they wish to give rest to their body they must sleep on the bare ground, and for the most part under the broad canopy of heaven. They receive but one refection, and that consists of bread and water. It is incredible what severe austerities and bodily mortifications females, as well as men, and persons of every age and of every condition, endure, whilst they perform this penitential course; and during twenty-four hours they are shut up in certain caves, like unto prisons, where they pass the whole day and night entirely absorbed in prayer, and receiving nothing to eat or to drink.

“I have thought it well to mention this fact, for, I am sure, your excellency will be rejoiced to see that the natives of this island, by this so great and so unparalleled an impetus of devotion, seek to appease [pg 494]the anger of God; and we may confidently hope, that by their fervour He will be appeased, who listens to the prayers of those who have recourse to Him in their afflictions.”

The contemporary, Messingham, describes the course of penance performed in the island somewhat more in detail than has been already given in the letter of Dr. Fleming. “During the nine days of the pilgrimage”, he says, “a rigorous fast was observed on oaten bread and the water of the lake. The pilgrim was first conducted barefooted to the church of St. Patrick, around which he moved on his knees seven times inside, and seven times outside, repeating all the while stated prayers of the Church. He was then conducted to the seven places of station, known as lecti pœnosi, which were formerly small churches, or sanctuaries, dedicated to various saints; and at each of these he repeated the visit as above. The next station was around a cross in the cemetery, and subsequently at another cross that was fixed in a mound of stones. Thence he proceeded, over a rough and rocky path, to a spot on the border of the lake, to which tradition pointed as the place on which St. Patrick had knelt in prayer. Here, also, certain prayers were appointed to be recited. All this pilgrimage and prayer was repeated three times each day—morning, noon, and evening—during the first seven days; on the eighth day it was repeated six times; confession and communion followed on the morning of the ninth day; and then the pilgrims entered the cave, where twenty-four hours were devoted to fasting and meditation. Any that choose not to enter the cave, passed these twenty-four hours in solitude at one of the former stations”.45 The seven lecti pœnosi were dedicated to SS. Patrick, Brigid, Columba, Brendan, Molaisre, Catherine, and Dabeoc, who was the patron of the place. During Catholic times there was an elegant church in the centre of the cemetery, and, besides other relics, it possessed some of our glorious apostle. This church, with the seven cells, or smaller churches, was still standing at the time of Peter Lombard, who adds, that “the English deputy did not dare to prevent the pilgrimage or profane the place”.46 He also describes the cave as “situated a few paces to the north of the church, being a narrow building, roofed with stone, which could contain twelve, or, at most, fourteen persons, kneeling two and two.47 There was one small window, near which those were placed who were bound to read the breviary”.

“This solitary island was looked on as a place which had been [pg 495]chosen by saint Patrick for retreat and silent prayer, and for exercising those deeds of penance for which his whole life was so remarkable. Hence it derived its name of Purgatory, or place of Penance, of St. Patrick.48 But whilst it was thus for the inhabitants of Ireland a chosen retreat of prayer and penance, its fame on the continent assumed another form. With the troubadours it became a favourite theme. Calderon immortalized it in Spanish; in Italy, it attracted the attention of Dante and Ariosto; and many popular tales about St. Patrick's Purgatory are still extant in French and Portuguese. It thus became a matter of romance; and poetical imagination conducted the penitents who visited the Island of Lough Derg, at first to the regions of Purgatory, and subsequently to the abodes of the blessed or of the damned.

“On the dawn of the so-called Reformation, Protestant writers seized on these poetic tales as if they were matters of sober fact, and availed themselves of the fictions of romance to cast ridicule on the practices of Catholic piety and devotion. For some time, indeed, they did not dare to offer violence to the pilgrims, who hastened thither with unabated fervour. During the reign of James I., however, the chapels or oratories on the island were demolished; but this did not satisfy the fury with which the enemies of the Catholic faith assailed its sanctuaries and shrines. Enraged at the numbers who, despite their threats, continued to flock to this penitential retreat, the lords justices, in 1632, made a last effort to desecrate ‘the holy island’. After publicly announcing that, in the opinion of the Papists, there was a passage from this island to the other world, and an entrance to the realms of Purgatory, they gave orders to have the whole island dug up, and that especially no portion of the cave should remain undestroyed; and thus, says Dr. Mant, was made known ‘the imposition of the Irish clergy’. But we should much rather say, thus did the predecessors of Dr. Mant reveal to the world the blindness of their bigotry, and afford a new instance of the frenetical fury, by which alone they were guided, in upturning the sanctuaries of Catholic devotion. Borlase, in his reduction of Ireland,49 mentions this sacrilegious act, and adds, that ‘St. Patrick's Purgatory was discovered to be a mere illusion, a little cell hewn out of a rock, no confines of Purgatory or Hell’.50 Boate, too, in his Natural History (p. 44), gives some further particulars; as he states that it was on the 13th of September, 1632, that the order of the lords justices was carried into execution, and that the religious who had it in charge were driven from the island, their monasteries being demolished, and the [pg 496]cell itself broken open; ‘in which state’, he adds (writing in 1660), ‘it hath lain ever since’.

“In the Antistitis Icon, or Sketch of the Life of Dr. Kirwan, bishop of Killala, written by John Lynch; the learned archdeacon of Tuam, and first printed in 1669,51 we have a faithful description of the penitential severities of this place of pilgrimage, and of the true motives which impelled the fervent faithful to flock thither in such numbers:—

“ ‘That he (Dr. Kirwan) might not be wanting in any species of piety, he reverenced in his soul the custom of undertaking pilgrimages. Nor was he satisfied with visiting such places in Connaught as were consecrated by the sojourn of the saints, and, above all, the rugged mountain called Cruagh Padrick, which he was wont to frequent, often ascending its steep sides, a thousand paces in height, and there staying, according to usage, on the very summit, which is covered with large stones, and creeping on bended knees over the rough rock fragments, which struck one with horror, not to speak of the danger of yawning chasms and precipices; but often, too, did he go into Ulster, to the far-famed Purgatory of St. Patrick, in which the pilgrims are wont to abstain from meat for nine days, using no food, save a little bread, and water from the lake. During one of the nine days, they are shut up in the dismal darkness of a cavern, and, therein fasting, partake of nothing save a little water, to moisten their throats when parched with thirst. At noontide and evening, they go on bended knees over paths beaten by the feet of saints, and strewn with sharp stones. In other quarters, they walk barefooted over rugged ways, in the olden time frequented by holy men, to satisfy for their transgressions. Sometimes walking and sometimes on their knees, they advance to a considerable distance into the sea. Thus do they spend the day, pouring out their prayers to God, and listening to holy discourses; nor in this sacred place is there to be seen or heard anything scurrilous or ludicrous. When night comes on, they lie down, not to enjoy repose, but to snatch a few moments' sleep; their beds are of straw, nor do they use any pillow but their garments. Thrice each day did Francis, with the other pilgrims, punctually perform these duties, and, in addition, he diligently applied himself to hearing confessions and preaching sermons’.52

“The nuncio Rinuccini, in the report of his nunciatura, made to the Holy See on his return to home in 1649, mentions how anxiously he had desired to snatch from the hands of the heretics the far-famed Purgatory of St. Patrick; and he adds: ‘The devotions of this deep cave are of great antiquity, though their first origin is uncertain. It is agreed, that the saint chose that spot for his holy retreats; and the visions53 with which he was there favoured by God, were well [pg 497]known, and approved of by succeeding generations. At present, the fury of the Calvinists has levelled everything with the ground, and filled up the cave; and as thus they destroyed every vestige of the spot, so do they seek to cancel every trace of its memory. It seemed to me that my mission from Rome should embrace this, too, as one of its special objects, and I would have been, in part, content, could I have re-planted the cross on that island. But I was not blessed with the fulfilment of this design’.54

“Despite, however, all the efforts of the Puritans, it continued to be a place of resort for pilgrims from every quarter of Ireland; so much so, that in the second year of queen Anne, the parliament once more enacted, ‘that, whereas the superstitions of popery are greatly increased and upheld by the pretended sanctity of places, especially of a place called St. Patrick's Purgatory in the county of Donegal, and of wells to which pilgrimages are made by vast numbers, ... be it enacted, that all such meetings be deemed riots and unlawful assemblies, and all sheriffs, etc., are hereby required to be diligent in executing the laws against all offenders’.

“In the year 1714, Dr. Hugh M'Mahon, bishop of Clogher,55 presented to the Sacred Congregation a Relation of the diocese entrusted to his care, and amongst other things, he details his own experience of the place of penitential resort which we have been describing. He had visited it disguised as a merchant from Dublin; for, even then, a bishop incurred great risk were he publicly recognized; and he describes in detail each particular of its penitential course. From his description we may conclude, that some changes had been introduced in its ritual since the time when Lombard and Messingham penned their commentaries. We shall give the extract in full in a note, as it has never before been published.56

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“About forty years later, the Purgatory of St. Patrick was visited by another eminent prelate of our Irish Church, Dr. Thomas De Burgo, who, in his Hibernia Dominicana, has recorded his impressions on visiting that far-famed sanctuary. ‘So great’, he says, ‘are the penitential deeds performed there, that they exceed, in my opinion, those of any other pilgrimage in the universe’;57 and he adds: ‘Non quae audivi, sed quae vidi refero; mihi enim feliciter contigit, insulam ipsam sanctissimi Patritii habitatione et miraculis consecratam, praeclarumque austeritatis primorum ecclesiae saeculorum praebentem exemplar, invisere anno 1748’.

“As regards the relations of the Holy See with this place of devotion, we learn from the Bollandists, that, in 1497, the cave was destroyed by order from Rome, in consequence of its being represented to the Pope as an occasion of shameful avarice, by a monk from Holland, who had visited it, attracted by its wide-spread fame, and yet saw there none of the wonderful visions which he had heard so often described.58 The Ulster Annals also commemorate this destruction, but state that it was occasioned by its not being the true cave hallowed by St. Patrick.59 The proper lessons for the feast of the Purgatory [pg 499]of St. Patrick were inserted in the Roman Breviary, printed at Venice in 1522, but were expunged by order of the Holy Father, in the next edition, by the same printer, in 1524. The nature of the devotion was subsequently explained to the Holy See; and we are informed by Messingham, that indulgences were attached to its penitential exercises before the close of the sixteenth century.60 When Dr. M'Mahon wrote his Relatio, the term of the indulgences granted by pope Clement X. had just expired. A little later, the cardinal archbishop of Benevento, who was subsequently raised to the papal chair as Benedict XIII., made the Purgatory of St. Patrick the theme of one of his homilies to his flock; and since that time this devotion has been ever cherished and encouraged by the sovereign pontiffs.

“In the Annals of the Four Masters, and other ancient records, mention of pilgrimages to this island seldom recurs. It was a mere matter of private devotion, and did not precisely fall within the province of history. In the sixteenth century, we learn from the Bollandists, that it was sometimes visited by 1,500 persons at the same time.61 Dr. Fleming tells us how such numbers flocked to it in 1625, that many had to return without finding room to land upon the island. Nor since then has its celebrity decreased; and we find that, before the famine years of 1847, this sanctuary was annually visited by no fewer than 10,000 pilgrims.62 At the present day the average number of daily pilgrims, during the station months, is very considerable, and the total annual number is estimated at several thousands.

“Besides the many accounts of this Purgatory, published more as matters of romance63 than history, there are several valuable treatises which deserve attention. Not only Lombard and Messingham, in the works already alluded to, but the Bollandists (17 March); Dr. Lanigan (vol. iv. p. 290, seqq.); Colgan, in his Trias Thaumaturga(p. 27); and Feijoo, the celebrated Spanish critic, in his Theatro Critico (tom. vii. p. 157), give several important facts, together with many judicious remarks concerning this venerated sanctuary of Lough Derg. The valuable notes of Dr. Matthew Kelly to the first volume of Cambrensis Eversus (pp. 138-155), throw much light on the subject. See also, a very rare treatise, entitled, A Brief History of St. Patrick's Purgatory, written by the Rev. Cornelius Nary, parish priest of Michan's, and published in Dublin in 1718.”

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