Hermit of Comeraghs takes centre stage at lake

The Comeragh mountain range in Co Waterford is an area of spectacular natural beauty, a relatively undiscovered gem that is home to stunning glacial lakes, picturesque waterfalls and hidden caverns.

For almost 40 years, one of these caves was the home of a man called Jim Fitzgerald. Born in 1883 in the village of Lackendarra on the western slopes of the Comeraghs, he went off to fight with the British forces in World War I.

On returning home in 1919, the shell-shocked Fitzgerald, like many of his comrades from the Great War, could no longer live in normal society and roamed the slopes of the Comeraghs in search of peace, living like a hermit in a cave until his death in February 1959.