BAREFOOT and deprived of sleep and food, Malachi Cush will give an insight into the challenge of a pilgrimage to Lough Derg in a television documentary to be screened tonight.
Ireland's Pilgrim People, to be shown on new channel Irish TV, follows Cush and 68 other pilgrims as they land at the Sanctuary of St Patrick on the Co Donegal island.
The hour-long programme records their experiences of three days of prayer, penance and fasting. "Something very powerful has drawn people down through the centuries to this extremely remote location where they deprive themselves of food and sleep in order to reach a deeper understanding of themselves and ordinary life," said Cush, who is also the channel's head of broadcasting. "We show viewers what brings pilgrims to Lough Derg and explore the deep sense of peace, calm and fulfilment that is to be enjoyed on this island which St Patrick himself was called to."
Travelling barefoot and accompanied by his friend Monsignor Colm Curry, Cush follows the path set out for all pilgrims at what has been described as the most robust and challenging pilgrimage in Europe.
As he prays and fasts, Cush gives viewers an insight into the many reasons why people continue to endure the ravages of sleep deprivation, weather exposure and hunger that a Lough Derg pilgrimage entails. "We talk to people from Ireland, Scotland and America, people of all ages and backgrounds, about what has called them to Lough Derg, repeatedly in many cases," he said.
* Ireland's Pilgrim People airs at 9pm today and can be seen across Ireland, Britain and Europe on Sky channel 191, Freesat 400, Eircom's eVision, free-to-air boxes and online at Irishtv.ie and in the United States on the PBS network.
* PILGRIM PEOPLE: Malachi Cush with Monsignor Colm Curry as he travels by boat to the Sanctuary of St Patrick on Donegal's Lough Derg, right