preprints.org > social sciences > anthropology > doi: 10.20944/preprints202407.0640.v1

Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 2 July 2024 / Approved: 8 July 2024 / Online: 9 July 2024 (03:11:37 CEST)

While the history of Lough Derg is extremely well-documented, there have been com-paratively fewer ethnographic reports. Given the highly elaborate Lough Derg websites and multiple postings by Lough Derg pilgrims, this researcher anticipated that Lough Derg – like many other Irish pilgrimages - would attract mostly recreational tourists. It does not. Pilgrims to Lough Derg do not see the site as primarily a tourist destination. Instead, they see Lough Derg primarily as a locus of intense religious experience. Lough Derg 3-day pilgrimages are rigorous and entail considerable self-sacrifice: fasting, sleep deprivation, cold, bare feet, prayer, no cell phones, and exposure to jagged rocks. Lough Derg’s 3-day pilgrimages closely follow patterns established centuries ago. Lough Derg is both "modern" and "timeless." It selectively incorporates ancient ritual and 21st century technology. This paper looks at the impact of the covid19 epidemic on Lough Derg pilgrimages. The site was closed to pilgrims during the 2020-2021 season and an on-line virtual pilgrimage was offered as a substitute. One unintended consequence of this virtual pilgrimage is that many pilgrims to Lough Derg now give greater prominence to what Corin Braga has categorized as fisi (ecstatic revelations) than to the physical journey itself (i e. somanodias). Post-covid pilgrims highlight the Internet: production of virtual texts and Internet vlogs. As in most pilgrimages worldwide, contemporary pilgrims to Lough Derg arrive with varied expec-tations and myriad motives. This ethnographic report examines these motives and offers a critique of James L. Smith (2016), who, like Edith and Victor Turner (1978) before him – saw Lough Derg as a symbol of Irish nationalism. Smith highlighted Lough Derg’s “moral geography” which, he argued, stems from its long history of isolation. But Post- covid Lough Derg is no longer isolated. The site has become more accessible through organized bus tours, improved public transportation, and development of a commercial tourist infrastructure.

pilgrimage; Ireland; St. Patrick; ecstatic experience; ritual; nationalism. moral geography; virtual pilgrimage; Covid-19; Corin Braga; Victor Turner; William H. Swatos Jr.; fisi; somanodias.; James L. Smith

Social Sciences, Anthropology

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