Browse Items · Digital Derg: A Deep Map

Historical Traditions

A folklore account of St. Patrick and the salmon of Lough Derg

Tags: Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), County Donegal, Cullion, Folklore, Gortnessy, Oral History, Salmon, St. Patrick

How the demons came to Lough Derg

"Some of the evil spirits settled on the Island of Swimmers to which they gave the name of demons. The demonaic island in truth is girded by an inland lake..."

Tags: banishment, Croagh Patrick, demons, Folklore, Isle of Demons, Isle of Swimmers, myth, mythology, origin of purgatory, Shane Leslie, St. Dabheoc, St. Patrick, Station Island

Interrogating the curse of St. Patrick

"…The story is told that in ancient times Lough Derg abounded in salmon and salmon-trout, just the same as its next neighbour, Lough Erne..."

Tags: Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus), Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), Daniel O'Connor, eels, fishing, Folklore, John O'Donovan, mountains, Salmon, scientism, St. Patrick, trout, wildlife

"They here shew a bass relief of Keeronagh, the devil's mother, rudely done on a coinstone of one of the chapels, a figure somewhat resembling that of a wolf, with a monstrous long tail and a forked tongue..."

Tags: blood, Caoranach, Clogher, Dabheoc's seat, etymology, Fionn mac Cumhaill, Folklore, Keeronagh, monster, mountains, mythology, Philip Skelton, pilgrimage, Protestant critique, stonework

Leprechauns and Mermaids

"Very few stories are told of mermaids in this district as it is too far from the sea. The mermaid or 'maigdean mara' is very attractive. Once upon a time a glan man who made a station in Lough Derg returned home by Bundoran. He spent a few hours…

Tags: Bundoran, County Cavan, County Donegal, drowning, Folklore, Glen, mermaid, Oral History, pilgrimage, supernatural

Lines Written on St Patrick's Purgatory Lough Derg

A poem by J. Patton on Lough Derg from the Schools' Collection

Tags: ammateur, emotion, environment, Folklore, nostalgia, Oral History, pilgrimage, poetry, religious identity, Station Island

Oral history and facts

A debate over the reliability of oral history, in which O'Donovan cites the heterogeneity of County Donegal local stories

Tags: debate, empiricism, Folklore, John O'Donovan, letters, nineteenth century, Oral History, ordnance survey, reliability, religion, scientism, tradition

Rathnacross Fairy Fort

"There is a circular fence of earth on top of a hill in the school district. It is known as Rathnacross and is situated in the townland of Drumawark.

There is a hole in the middle of it where a Celtic cross stood but it is broken now and the…

Tags: Drumawark Townland, fairy fort, Folklore, High Cross, hills, marker, pilgrim road, pilgrimage, Rathnacross

Sibby's moat

"There is a moat or mound in the townland of Cullion where a woman named Sabina did penance on the way to Lough Derg. She used to sleep on this mound the night before she went no matter whether the weather was wet or dry. It is still called Sibby's…

Tags: Cullion Townland, dryness, etymology, Folklore, moat, mound, pilgrimage, place name, Sibby's moat

Situating Lough Derg

A history of Lough Derg and its Antiquities.

Tags: blood, Bundoran, commentary, Derg abban, dimensions, eighteenth century, Fair Lake, Fenian Cycle, Fionn mac Cumhaill, Folklore, Gerald of Wales, James Stephens, mica, moorland, railway, red, slate, St. Dabheoc, St. Fintan, Tirconnell, water

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