The internationally renowned pilgrimage shrine of Lough Derg in Co Donegal is to have a new Prior.
As part of the Clogher Diocesan Changes announced today by the Diocesan Administrator, Monsignor Joseph McGuinness, Fr Laurence (La) Flynn, the present Parish Priest of Ballybay (Tullycorbet), Co Monaghan, is to take over the role on 1 October. He will also be the Administrator of the Parish of Pettigo.
Father Flynn will succeed Father Owen J McEneaney, who has held both roles since 2013 and who has been appointed Parish Priest of Ballybay (Tullycorbet) in place of Fr Flynn. Fr McEneaney previously served in Ballybay during the 1980s following his ordination.
The other diocesan changes announced today are that Father Ian Fee CC, Bundoran-Ballyshannon (Magh Ene), Co Donegal, is to take leave of absence from the diocese while Father Alan Ward CF, Finner Camp, Ballyshannon is to take sabbatical leave for one year. Rev Sean Mulligan, newly-ordained deacon, has been assigned to the parish of Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.
Commenting on the appointment of Father Flynn, Monsignor McGuinness said that Lough Derg continues to hold a very special place in the lives of many people in Clogher diocese, throughout Ireland and further afield.
“It is foremost a place of prayer and renewal, a place where creation, history and the everlasting presence of God converge. Father Flynn already has great experience and knowledge of Lough Derg through his long association with the island. This will be of enormous benefit to Lough Derg’s next stage of development and I pray God’s blessings on him and the entire team there. I thank him for the generous service he has given to the people of Tullycorbet parish as PP for the last thirteen years’, he said.
Mgr McGuinness paid tribute to Father McEneaney for his outstanding service during the past four years.
“We appreciate immensely the leadership which Father McEneaney has given to the Lough Derg pilgrimage and the great commitment he has shown for the pastoral and spiritual welfare of all who have come to the island. We thank him also for his devotion to the people of Pettigo parish and wish him every blessing in his new role in Tullycorbet parish’, Mgr McGuinness said.
The shrine of Lough Derg, known also as Saint Patrick’s Purgatory, is located near Pettigo in Co Donegal.
It is dedicated to Saint Patrick and the spirituality of Saint Patrick is remembered and renewed every year by pilgrims. The Island shrine is a meeting place where God’s healing grace is experienced in an intensity seldom encountered elsewhere, through the spiritual programmes, the companionship of fellow pilgrims and the sheer holiness of the Island.
Lough Derg acquired extraordinary fame in the middle ages both in Christian history and general literature. The Island, made holy by the prayers of millions of pilgrims down through the centuries provides a safe haven for spiritual rest, personal reflection and renewal.
The Lough Derg Pilgrimage Season occurs annually from May through until October and the traditional Three-Day Pilgrimage season happens between 1 June and 15 August. One-Day Retreats and Special Retreat Days run in the months of May, late August and September followed by Youth Retreats in September and October.
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