St Peter's Island and St Peter's Well
Dublin Core
Title
St Peter's Island and St Peter's Well
Subject
Lough Derg--Oral history--Folklore--Augustinians
Description
"St. Peter's Island and St. Peter's well are situated about a half a mile due North of the village of Mountcharles. They are in the townland of Turras Hill. The little Island is in the centre of the lake, but since the erection of the waterworks in Mountcharles the level of the water was raised, and the Island disappeared.
Centuries ago the catholics of this parish assembled to the shores of this lake to mass, and to give adoration to their Creator.
When the Augustinian Monks were banished from Lough Derg by the English, they came to Turras Hill. They had a retreat here. The catholics came to this place to worship their Divine King. These monks came to Turras Hill in the year sixteen hundred and seventy, and they stayed until the year seventeen hundred and thirty one.
About twenty yards from the lough there is an altar. On this altar there is a statue of the Blessed Virgin. The pilgrimage to this well opens on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, the twenty ninth of June, and it closes on the feast of the Assumption, the fifteenth of August. The following are the exercises of the turras.
When the pilgrim comes in sight of the well he starts saying five decades of the Holy Rosary. He continues praying and finishes the five decades standing at the well.
There are three heaps of stones beside the well. The pilgrim goes round each of the heaps and says one our father, one Hail Mary and a Gloria at each of them when making the circuit.
Then he begins fifteen decades. He proceeds towards the altar and finishes the fifteen decades of the Rosary.
There are three other heaps of stones beside the Altar. The pilgrim goes round each of these heaps and says one Our Father, One Hail Mary, and a Gloria when making the circuit at each.
Then he goes down to the lough and says nine our Fathers, nine Hail Marys, and nine Glorias, looking out towards the lough, and seven (Hail) Hail Marys, and seven Our Fathers, standing with his back towards the water. Then he gets six stones and leaves a stone in each heap. Then he says seven Our Fathers, seven Hail Marys, and seven Glorias in St. Peter's chair. Then the station is finished.
Every person from the surrounding districts makes this station during the summer months."
Centuries ago the catholics of this parish assembled to the shores of this lake to mass, and to give adoration to their Creator.
When the Augustinian Monks were banished from Lough Derg by the English, they came to Turras Hill. They had a retreat here. The catholics came to this place to worship their Divine King. These monks came to Turras Hill in the year sixteen hundred and seventy, and they stayed until the year seventeen hundred and thirty one.
About twenty yards from the lough there is an altar. On this altar there is a statue of the Blessed Virgin. The pilgrimage to this well opens on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, the twenty ninth of June, and it closes on the feast of the Assumption, the fifteenth of August. The following are the exercises of the turras.
When the pilgrim comes in sight of the well he starts saying five decades of the Holy Rosary. He continues praying and finishes the five decades standing at the well.
There are three heaps of stones beside the well. The pilgrim goes round each of the heaps and says one our father, one Hail Mary and a Gloria at each of them when making the circuit.
Then he begins fifteen decades. He proceeds towards the altar and finishes the fifteen decades of the Rosary.
There are three other heaps of stones beside the Altar. The pilgrim goes round each of these heaps and says one Our Father, One Hail Mary, and a Gloria when making the circuit at each.
Then he goes down to the lough and says nine our Fathers, nine Hail Marys, and nine Glorias, looking out towards the lough, and seven (Hail) Hail Marys, and seven Our Fathers, standing with his back towards the water. Then he gets six stones and leaves a stone in each heap. Then he says seven Our Fathers, seven Hail Marys, and seven Glorias in St. Peter's chair. Then the station is finished.
Every person from the surrounding districts makes this station during the summer months."
Creator
Michael Breslin
Source
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1036, Pages 139-41
Publisher
National Folklore Collection, UCD
Date
1937-39
Contributor
duchas.ie, hosting and crowd-sourced transcription
Rights
CC BY-NC 4.0 International License
Format
Transcribed text and digitised resource
Language
English
Type
Oral history, folklore
Identifier
DD_0100
Coverage
54.652589,-8.207623
References
https://www.townlands.ie/en/donegal/tirhugh/templecarn/templecarn/inishgoosk/
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Michael Breslin, age 14
Interviewee
Mrs Ellen Breslin, age 84
Location
Mountcharles, Co. Donegal
Files
Collection
Citation
Michael Breslin, “St Peter's Island and St Peter's Well,” Digital Derg: A Deep Map, accessed April 24, 2024, https://digitalderg.eu/items/show/117.