"When we were within half a bow-shot of the said island of the Purgatory I saw a bird blacker than coal take flight ; it had not a single plume or feather on its back..."
"It is almost incredible what crowds visit this island annually, during the months of June, July, and August—it being no unusual thing to see from 900 to 1000 persons of both sexes upon it at one and the same time..."
It is traditionally believed that a monastic settlement was founded here in the fifth century by St. Patrick who installed Dabheoc as the first abbot. There are forty-six islands in Lough Derg but only two of them are of archaeological interest. The…