{"id":98252,"date":"2025-10-02T03:08:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T03:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/98252\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T03:08:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T03:08:16","slug":"heartening-rise-as-almost-10000-pilgrims-visit-lough-derg-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/98252\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Heartening\u2019 rise as almost 10,000 pilgrims visit Lough Derg this year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>As the 2025 pilgrimage season comes to a close, the team at Lough Derg near Pettigo has witnessed a significant rise in pilgrim numbers during this Jubilee Year.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The traditional three day pilgrimage experienced an 11% increase, welcoming 4,040 pilgrims, with a notable rise in younger pilgrims undertaking this profound spiritual journey. Meanwhile, a total of 5,491 came for the one day retreats, marking a 23% rise with an influx of Parish Groups enriching the pilgrimage experience. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-609311\" class=\"wp-image-609311 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Pilgrims-gather-inside-Saint-Patricks-Basilica-on-Station-Island-Lough-Derg-during-the-2025-pilgrima.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"903\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-609311\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pilgrims gather inside Saint Patrick\u2019s Basilica on Station Island, Lough Derg during the 2025 pilgrimage season.<\/p>\n<p>School retreats continued to flourish, including students from 62 schools who participated in Confirmation retreat days, and the island also welcomed international pilgrim groups from several countries including Holland, the United States, China, and Singapore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe increased number of pilgrims this year reaffirms Lough Derg\u2019s role as a beacon of hope and spiritual renewal,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe this season has underscored the timeless relevance of pilgrimage,\u201d added Monsignor La Flynn, Prior of Lough Derg.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe increase in pilgrim numbers is a testament to the enduring spiritual hunger for peace, reflection, and deep relationship with God. It seems that Pope Francis\u2019 choice of the Pilgrims of Hope theme for Jubilee Year 2025 has evoked in many people a rediscovery of the profound benefits of pilgrimage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-609312\" class=\"wp-image-609312 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/DSC_0051-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"926\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-609312\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pilgrims at one of the stations on Lough Derg.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2018Pilgrim Passport\u2019 initiative has undoubtedly enhanced this year\u2019s pilgrimage season. In collaboration with Knock Shrine and Croagh Patrick, this project encouraged pilgrims to undertake spiritual journeys across these revered sacred sites. The life-shore Pilgrim Path at Lough Derg remains open for pilgrimage all year round.<\/p>\n<p>For more information about future pilgrimages and retreats at Lough Derg, please visit <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.loughderg.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">www.loughderg.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Heartening\u2019 rise as almost 10,000 pilgrims visit Lough Derg this year was last modified:  October 1st, 2025 by Staff Writer<\/p>\n<p>      Tags:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the 2025 pilgrimage season comes to a close, the team at Lough Derg near Pettigo has witnessed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98253,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,669,13,14,6,11,12,62792,62793,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-98252","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-donegal-news","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-featurednews","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-latest-news","15":"tag-latestnews","16":"tag-lough-derg-pilgrimage","17":"tag-lough-derg-sanctuary-donegal","18":"tag-main-news","19":"tag-mainnews","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-top-stories","22":"tag-topstories","23":"tag-world","24":"tag-world-news","25":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}