Carlow Parish Pilgrimage to Our Lady's Island

What to Expect

Carlow Cathedral parish runs a one day bus pilgrimage to Our Lady’s Island in Co. Wexford on Tuesday 25 August 2026. The bus departs from St Leo’s at 11am and the cost is €25 per person, with booking taken in the Parish Centre.

Our Lady’s Island is one of the oldest continuously used Marian pilgrimage sites in Ireland, a low peninsula in a shallow lagoon near Carnsore Point where pilgrims have come since medieval times. The traditional devotion is to walk the perimeter of the island, praying the rosary as you go, some pilgrims doing part of the circuit barefoot or in the shallow water. The main pilgrimage season there runs from the Feast of the Assumption on 15 August to the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady on 8 September, which is why parishes across Leinster organise their buses in this window.

This is a full day out rather than a quick visit. Bring rain gear, comfortable shoes and something to eat and drink, as facilities on the island itself are modest.

Good to Know

• Date: Tuesday 25 August 2026. Bus departs St Leo’s, Carlow at 11am.
• Cost: €25 per person, covering the coach.
• Booking is taken in the Carlow Cathedral Parish Centre, Old Dublin Road, Carlow. Phone 059 916 4087 or email info@carlowcathedral.ie.
• Places are limited to the capacity of the coach, so book rather than turn up on the day.
• The pilgrimage runs annually in the second half of August. Check the parish newsletter each summer for the exact date.

Getting There

The pickup point is St Leo’s on the Dublin Road in Carlow town, a short walk from the town centre and close to the cathedral and Carlow College. Carlow is reached from the M9 at junctions 5 and 6, and from the N80 from Athy and Portlaoise. Carlow railway station on the Dublin Heuston to Waterford line is about fifteen minutes on foot from the Dublin Road. There is public parking at Kennedy Avenue, the Potato Market and Carlow Shopping Centre if you are leaving a car in town for the day; check the maximum stay before you go.