Pictures: A great sense of joy as Easter celebrated at the Lough 

The local parish priest has described a ‘great sense of joy’ as members of the Lough community were able to gather for Easter for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Parishioners were able to join together for a special Stations of the Cross event on Friday.

The traditional ceremony took place outdoors and was attended by a large number of parishioners of a range of ages.

Fr John Paul Hegarty told The Echo that attendees were delighted to celebrate Good Friday together for the first time in two years.

“It was a lovely evening and nearly 100 people gathered at the Lough for the Stations of the Cross,” Fr Hegarty said.

“It was very bright and cheery. 

"There was a lovely atmosphere and afterwards we had a cup of tea on the church grounds. 

"There was a real sense of togetherness and celebration.”

A dawn mass had also been planned at the Lough yesterday morning to celebrate Easter Sunday.

Unfortunately, the annual event had to be cancelled due to poor weather conditions but Fr Hegarty said that parishioners found other ways to mark the day.

“We decided to cancel the dawn mass on Saturday night which was a sensible thing to do because it was very wet and it wouldn’t have been suitable for people to come out for an outdoor celebration,” Fr Hegarty said.

“But we had very big crowds for mass in the church later that morning and in the afternoon. There were a lot of families and children there and people who I hadn’t seen for a long time.

“Some people hadn’t been in for two years and were saying how great it was to get out and be part of the community again.

“The coming together in the church was lovely. There was a great sense of Easter joy.”