The Purgatory of Saint Patrick at Lough Derg
- Date of account
- late twelfth century text; medieval pilgrimage tradition
- Location
- Station Island, Lough Derg, County Donegal
- Source
- model_recalled_reference
- Record updated
- 2026-10-10
Record summary
The Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii, attributed to an account by the knight Owen and written by H. of Sawtry, describes a penitential journey through a purgatorial landscape reached through Saint Patrick’s shrine at Lough Derg. The site became a major medieval pilgrimage destination and remains identifiable geographically and textually. It matters for comparison with anomalous-place traditions involving restricted access, visionary testimony, ritual preparation, and reports of otherworld travel. The text’s transmission, authorship, and relationship to actual pilgrimage practice require scrutiny.
Investigate related details with Anomaly Graph’s account-based search, or read how matching and provenance work.