20 Attractions to Explore Near St Patrick's Purgatory

Lough Derg or Loch Derg is a lake in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. The lake is about 8.9 square kilometres in size, but is quite shallow, making it dangerous during bad weather. It has stocks of pike, perch and brown trout for angling. It is best known for St Patrick's Purgatory, a site of pilgrimage on Station Island in the lake.

Boa Island is an island near the north shore of Lower Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is the largest island in Lough Erne, approximately 8 km long, and relatively narrow. It features a counterscarp rath as well as carved stones, graveyard and enclosure, all in Dreenan townland and all Scheduled Historic Monuments. The oldest stone monument on the island is a denuded cairn at Inishkeeragh Bridge near the southern tip of the island.

Lusty Beg Island is a unique and utterly charming destination offering the perfect location to relax and unwind. Set amongst beautiful lake-side woodlands, there is a selection of accommodation including self-catering houses and ensuite hotel style bedrooms, restaurant, retreat spa, activity centre, nature trail and fairy trails.

Drumskinny is the site of a stone circle in the townland of Drumskinny, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. This stone circle is part of a complex of five in this immediate locality, dating back to the new stone age, 2250 B.C. The purpose of the circle, made up of 39 stones and a small round cairn, is unknown but probably involved that of religious practices, astronomical observations and calendar functions.

Lustymore Island is an island located in Lower Lough Erne, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Nearby is Boa Island whose Caldragh cemetery has a carved Janus type figure. A second figure was brought to Caldragh in 1939 from Lustymore Island. In the early 20th century, Lady Hunt from Alberta, Canada owned both Lustymore and Lustybeg islands. When her residence, Glenvar House, accidentally burned down, she moved to Germany.

Barnesmore Gap is that big opening between Croaghconnelagh and Croaghonagh mountains . Here in this very fine mountain pass the traveller is absolutely shut in between these two great hills as he wends his way along a really excellent road that traverses the gap. It is an area of complex geology, but its main feature is granite formed in the Devonian period, 400million ears ago. The gap held glaciers in the Last Glacial Period flowing to the Atlantic through what is now Donegal Bay.

Lough Eske is a small lake in County Donegal in the west of Ulster in Ireland. The lake lies to the northeast of Donegal Town, to which it is connected by the River Eske. The lake is about 900 acres in size and is surrounded to the north, east and west by the Bluestack Mountains, which occupy much of southern County Donegal.

This old graveyard known as the Famine Graveyard and also the Paupers Graveyard is the site of the burials of victims of the Great Irish Famine 1845-1849 and of the poor generally. There are no marked graves. There are probably hundreds of people buried here, possibly a thousand or more. It lay nearby the old Donegal Town Workhouse. A lone cross and a few plaques commemorate the burials.

The Cliffs of Magho are a 9-kilometre-long limestone escarpment located in the townland of Magho, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The NNW-facing cliffs overlook the western reaches of Lower Lough Erne and define the northern edge of Lough Navar Forest, a major plantation managed by the Forest Service of Northern Ireland. A popular viewpoint atop the cliffs is accessed by a forest drive. The cliffs are a proposed Area of Special Scientific Interest.

White Island is an island in Lower Lough Erne in County Fermanagh. The ruins of an ancient church are found near the shore, built on the site of an earlier monastic settlement. It still has an intact arched Romanesque doorway. The island is best known for its eight carved figures that sit in a line along the interior north wall of the church. Most were carved between 800 and 1000 A.D. The island is accessed by ferry from the marina in Castle Archdale Country Park, near Irvinestown.

Donegal Railway Heritage Centre is considered one of the county’s hidden gems andToday, it operates as a visitor attraction comprising a museum, information centre and shop. This fascinating museum which has just been refurbished, celebrating Donegal’s railway heritage, is based in one of the few remaining original station houses, which opened in 1889.

A majestic churhc which was located in the heart of Fermanagh and it is an ancient church which has a long history to say.

Donegal Castle was once one of the most important strongholds for one of Ireland’s most powerful clans. The castle consists of a 15th-century rectangular keep with a later Jacobean style wing. The complex is sited on a bend in the River Eske, near the mouth of Donegal Bay, and is surrounded by a 17th-century boundary wall. There is a small gatehouse at its entrance mirroring the design of the keep.

A beautiful freshwater lough in County Donegal, Ireland. The lough, along with its neighbouring village of Fintown, was named after a mythological woman, Finngeal, who drowned in the lake after attempting to save her wounded brother Feargamhain. The water from Lough Finn outflows into the River Finn.

Old Castle Archdale lies on a cliff in a forest, which was built in 1615 by John Archdale, an English planter from Suffolk. The castle was built on a T-plan with a defensive bawn 66 feet by 64 feet and 15 feet high with 2 flankers on its northern corners. This area of Fermanagh has a significant number of plantation castles that were built when lands seized by crown forces were redistributed or sold at very attractive rates to planters from both Scotland and England.

Castle Archdale in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland is a former estate on the shores of Lough Erne Lower, the key feature of which today is Castle Archdale Country Park. There is also a caravan park. The former estate is situated near Lisnarick and Irvinestown, in the broader hinterland of Enniskillen, and the park is owned and run by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The castle was built on a T-plan with a defensive bawn 66 ft by 64 ft and 15 ft high with flankers at each corner.

Castle Archdale in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland is a former estate on the shores of Lough Erne Lower, the key feature of which today is Castle Archdale Country Park. There is also a caravan park. The former estate is situated near Lisnarick and Irvinestown, in the broader hinterland of Enniskillen, and the park is owned and run by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The park was once an estate owned by the Archdale family, who arrived in 1614 during the Plantation of Ulster.

Tully Castle is a fortified house on the southern shore of Lower Lough Erne. It was built for Sir John Hume, a Scottish planter, in 1619. The site contains a walking route taking in the grandeur of the castle, passes a traditional Irish cottage which houses an interactive exhibition before skirting the loughshore.

Lough Navar Forest rises to the top of the Magho cliffs and comprises over 2,600 hectares of primarily coniferous forest. It is also home to one of the most breathtaking views in the island of Ireland, over the Magho Cliffs. It is hardly surprising that this forest is a mecca for walkers, fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts.