"Lough Derg is dotted with forty-six small islands, some of them graced with shrubs and occasional rowans or ash, but the greater number are only bare rocks projecting out of the water..."
"After quitting the prison, and before leaving the island, it was formerly the practice to go into the water, and, being stark naked, wash their whole bodies, and more particularly the head, to signify that they were entirely cleansed from their…
