Lough Derg - Donegal

3mi/5km south of Donegal on the N15 a road on the left (R232) leads to Pettigo, from which the R233 wends its way north through the barren landscape to Lough Derg. In the lough lies Station Island, known in the Middle Ages as St Patrick's Purgatory, to which there is an important pilgrimage every year. The churches and pilgrim hospices on the island can be seen from the shores of the lough.

In pagan times a cave on Station Island was believed to be the entrance to the Underworld. It gained its name of St Patrick's Purgatory when a traveling medieval knight claimed to have seen the fires of Purgatory in the cave.

The pilgrims who make what has been called the "hardest pilgrimage in Christendom" are now almost exclusively Irish. They spend three days on the island performing the numerous penances prescribed, mainly vigils and fasting.