"An ominous cloud appeared in the north"

"An ominous cloud appeared in the north"

Lough Derg--Pilgrimage--Description--Alice Curtayne

"Early in the ninth century, an ominous cloud appeared in the north, which was presently to overcast all such fair scenses as that presented by Saints' Island..."

Alice Curtayne, 1898-1981

Curtayne, Alice, Lough Derg: St. Patrick’s Purgatory, p. 21

Burns Oats and Washbourn, Ltd., London and Dublin

1944

Citation for the purposes of criticism

Monograph

English

History

DD_0127

54.6153, -7.8864

"Early in the ninth century, an ominous cloud appeared in the north, which was presently to overcast all such fair scenes as that presented by Saints' Island. The Danes began their devastating raids on the shores, rivers, and even the inland lakes or Ireland. One after another, the great monastic groups of the country became their prey. Saint Dabheoc's monastery shared the fate of the others; its rich and germinative life was quenched by the marauders. We have no details. There is a brief entry in the Four Masters under the year 836, stating that all the churches of the neighbouring Lough Erne were destroyed by the Danes in that year. Saints' Island was probably included among them. The Danes not only leveled buildings, but they destroyed documents, too, which explains why this island's history cannot now be bridged between the death of Dabheoc and the coming of the Augustinians. The Danish assault on Saints' Island must have totally ruined the place beyond hope of any immediate resurrection."

Monograph