It is a four-minute ferry ride to Station Island on Lough Derg, and four minutes back, but it is two very different journeys. There is a quietness among passengers going over, and a giddiness as they return.
Between late May and mid-August thousands of barefoot pilgrims come to St Patrick’s Purgatory on the Co Donegal island to undertake a three-day programme of prescribed prayer and reflection, including a 24-hour sleepless vigil.
This has been a place of penance since the fifth century, and pilgrims fast, with just one daily meal of oat biscuits or dry toast and tea or coffee.
Skippers Joe Sheeran (left) and Connla Conway ferry the pilgrims to Station Island, Lough Derg. All photographs: Bryan O’Brien 
Neasa McHale (left) from Dublin and Laura Malone from Kildare on the ferry to Station Island. 
Pilgrims pray as they walk around the St Patrick’s Basilica during their vigil.
“People come because something draws them, maybe there’s a search of some kind,” says the island’s prior, Monsignor La Flynn.
Sisters Kathy Keighery and Mairéad Campbell, from Co Longford, are there for their father, Patrick Brady, who died in May. “He came every year and he used to make it sound so easy,” says Mairéad.
Francie and John Ward from Manchester, England, are here to pray for their brother, Anthony, who has cancer. Trevor Markham travelled home to Ennis, Co Clare, from Florida to bring his father, Ollie, to the island.
Francie Ward, his brother John and their cousin Francie from Manchester. 
Father and son Ollie (left) and Trevor Markham pray. Trevor travelled from Florida to attend with his father from Ennis. 
Sisters Kathy Keighery and Mairead Campbell taking part in the three-day pilgrimage in honour of their father Patrick Brady who died in May.
While there is a lot happening in this confined space – not much bigger than a football field – it feels calm. People are focused on their constant circuits of the outdoor stone “stations”, regardless of the weather and the midges.
Their eyes look downward in prayer, watching their footing on the cold, slippery stones. As the hours pass, you begin to recognise people by their feet.
A ban on electronic devices adds to the serenity, and participants are curious and open, with conversations starting and flowing easily between the silences.
“It’s always peaceful,” says Seamus from Co Tyrone, who is on his sixth pilgrimage. “It’s great to get away from your mobile phone.”
Pilgrims fast for a further 12 hours after leaving the island, but yet, as the ferry crosses, spirits are high. Their joy is contagious.
Pilgrims are allowed one meal a day of black tea or coffee, dry toast/wheaten bread, and oatcakes. 
The ‘Lough Derg meal’. 
Pat Ward, from Kinlough, Co Leitrim, a regular visitor to Lough Derg. 
Sisters Breda McCourt and Catherine Gray wearing hats to protect themselves from midges. 
Brendan Devaney from Tyrone gets a short break in his bunk. The brief rest is offered between 7:30 PM and 9:00 PM before the night vigil begins. 
Barefoot pilgrims walking through the penitential beds. 
A man prays at the penitential beds. 
Pilgrims pray at the penitential beds as late evening light fades. 
Pilgrims on Station Island, Lough Derg. 
Monsignor La Flynn, prior of Lough Derg shakes the hand of every pilgrim and blesses them as they leave the island.