St Patrick's Purgatory

Saint Patrick's Basilica
St Patrick's Purgatory
Baisleac Naomh Pádraig
Saint Patrick's Basilica is located in Ireland
Saint Patrick's Basilica
Saint Patrick's Basilica
Saint Patrick's Basilica is located in Northern Ireland
Saint Patrick's Basilica
Saint Patrick's Basilica
54°36′32.30″N 7°52′16.51″W / 54.6089722°N 7.8712528°W / 54.6089722; -7.8712528
LocationLough Derg, County Donegal
CountryRepublic of Ireland
Language(s)English, Irish, Latin
DenominationCatholic
TraditionRoman Rite
Websiteloughderg.org
History
Statusminor basilica
DedicationSaint Patrick
Dedicated12 May 1931
Architecture
Architect(s)William Alphonsus Scott
Thomas Joseph Cullen[1]
StyleRomanesque Revival, Neo-Byzantine
Groundbreaking1924
Completed1931
Construction costIR£80,000
Specifications
Materialsashlar, stone, marble, lead, stained glass, copper, concrete
Administration
DioceseClogher
Map of Station Island and its penitential stations by Thomas Carve in 1666. "Caverna Purgatory" on the map is the site of the actual cave.

St Patrick's Purgatory is an ancient pilgrimage site on Station Island in Lough Derg, County Donegal, Ireland. According to legend, the site dates from the fifth century, when Christ showed Saint Patrick a cave, sometimes referred to as a pit or a well, on Station Island that was an entrance to Purgatory.[2] Its importance in medieval times is clear from the fact that it is mentioned in texts from as early as 1185 and shown on maps from all over Europe as early as the fifteenth century. It is the only Irish site designated on Martin Behaim's world map of 1492.[3]

  1. ^ "St. Parick's Catholic Basilica, STATION ISLAND, Lough Derg, DONEGAL". Buildings of Ireland.
  2. ^ Bieler, Ludwig. "St. Patrick's Purgatory: Contributions towards an Historical Topography.” The Irish Ecclesiastical Record 93 (1960): 137–44.
  3. ^ Leslie, Shane, ed. Saint Patrick’s Purgatory: A Record from History and Literature. London: Burns, Oates & Washbourne, 1932