“We invite you to ‘Walk and Pray’ along the Lough Derg Pilgrim Path,” said Fr La Flynn. “I hope that those who long to be back at Lough Derg on Station Island may at least get to come this far.”

Pilgrims are invited to take off their shoes and “do Lough Derg from afar”.

The evening will include dinner, a raffle, a band and DJ and an opportunity to meet many new people from across Ireland.

Jason Evert has reported that his message has been able to reach tens of thousands more people than he would have been able to reach with a few talks in Ireland.

The Christmas Retreat will be packed full of talks with top Catholic lay and religious speakers, workshops, time to hang out, music, prayer, sacraments and more.

The premise of SLS20 is to teach teachers to teach and live out the Great Commission.

Last weekend about 175 women attended the Shine Retreat, and – unsurprisingly – there are only 20 tickets left for the 2-day retreat Blessed Is She.

“That put us to thinking what we might do for those who draw upon their own spirituality in the course of their teaching.”

“I pray as I climb; I pray the Rosary, and I pray as I walk around the penitential beds along the way," says Dr Michael Neary.

“The notion of embracing the challenges of Lough Derg would appear to be nonsense. But it is glorious nonsense – it is the most wonderful witness to the most profound spiritual values.”

“It is one of the few movements really reaching out to the under eighteens. We want to reach young people as early as possible and share this good news with them.”

Up to 15,000 pilgrims visit Lough Derg every year (mainly from May to September) and this has been steady for the last number of years.

New member of Carlow community was influenced by an Irish missionary priest and the Legion of Mary.