Lough Derg, Sanctuary of St Patrick, Tour of Station Island and Boat Trip

3 Hour Visit to Lough Derg includes boat trip and tour of Station Island.

11am Morning Tour or 2:30pm Afternoon Tour
A Place Apart – A welcoming space to step aside from a busy schedule and simply be
Timeless Appeal – Engages cultural travellers, heritage enthusiasts, and faith-based visitors alike
Authentic Experience – A living sacred site, still in use in an unbroken tradition since the early Christian period
Unspoiled Landscape – An out of the way place with tranquil waters, quiet bogland and diverse flora and fauna
An Inspirational Location – Lough Derg has long inspired writers and poets, exploring themes of faith, identity, and Irish life through the lens of Lough Derg’s contemplative, sometimes challenging, pilgrimage experience. These extend from poets of the Gaelic bardic tradition of the late middle-ages, through the 19th century writer and folklorist William Carlton to Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney’s 1984 sequence entitled ‘Station Island’. Literary legend Patrick Kavanagh penned his book-length poem ‘Lough Derg’ during a pilgrimage stay on the island in June 1942.

Praiseworthy Architecture - The striking St Patrick’s Basilica, built in the 1920’s in the Hiberno-Romanesque style with influences from Byzantine architecture dominates the skyline of the Island. Honoured with the title of Basilica by Pope Pius XI, and one of only two basilicas in Ireland, it is distinguished by its octagonal form and copper-clad dome. The Basilica is home to 14 stained-glass windows in a Stations of the Cross series commissioned from renowned Irish Stained Glass artist Harry Clarke.