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The salmon of Lough Derg
"There is one strange fact connected with this lake - no salmon come into it, though they come up to the very point where the River Derg escapes out of it…"
The ruins of Saints Island
"The ground-works of many ruins can still be traced to Saint Daveog's Island on Olean na Naomh or Island of the Saints) and a paved way (via strata) or old road can still be traced..."
The origin of Lough Derg's name
"There are two different opinions to account for the meaning of the denomination, Lough Derg..."
The monster guards a crock of gold
"The same or a similar monster inhabits the lake yet (still) and was seen not many months ago. It guards a crock of gold which lies buried in the ancient island of the Purgatory…"
St. Dabheoc's Seat and the old pilgrim road
"To the west of St. Brigid's Chair, and about two furlongs from the shore of the lake, but somewhat further from the chair, is situated on the very summit of a mountain a carn-shaped eminence, on the summit of which is St. Dabheoc's Seat..."
Oral history and facts
A debate over the reliability of oral history, in which O'Donovan cites the heterogeneity of County Donegal local stories
John O'Donovan described the lake
"Ballyshanny. (Nov. 1, 1835.) I visited the far-famed terrestrial Purgatory of Lough-Derg but received no benefit from my tours except a severe cold, which I attribute more to the wet mountain bogs that surround the Lake..."
John O'Donovan catches a cold
"I visited the far famed terrestrial purgatory of Lough Derg, but received no benefit from my turas except a severe cold, which I attribute more to the wet mountain bogs that surround the lake, and to the chillyness (chilliness) of the wind than to…
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..."
Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the worm of Lough Derg
O'Donovan's account from a local of the origin of Lough Derg's name in a story from the Fenian Cycle