This page is recommended reading before coming on our retreats for the first time.
Lake Isle Retreats is run by Tim McEvitt with help from his wife Yen (pictured), and utilizing the talented services of local food producers, Indian/Ayurvedic cooks, yoga teachers and therapists. We use some facilities of the Shambala Holistic Centre. |
Lake Isle Retreats is a small business situated on the western shore of Upper Lough Erne. We are in a place of great natural beauty, off the beaten track. We've been hosting retreats since October 2005, initially based on Inish Rath Island. Since October 2022 we've had our own facility for guests on the mainland 200 metres from L. Erne. We offer vegetarian and vegan meals and endeavour to provide organic food whenever possible. Some of the food is grown locally in our own vegetable garden. Tim lived as a monk for seven years and he had an ashram experience for twelve years, spending most of his ashram life at the island temple which is located 600 metres away from our retreat centre. Visiting the Inish Rath Island temple is an option on all retreats for any guests who are interested. Other options are available for those who do not wish to visit the island. Although Lake Isle Retreats is open for the general public and is not specifically a "Krishna" retreat, Tim sings Krishna-related mantras as well as more general mantras like Om, as part of a relaxing meditation session. He does this using a harmonium musical instrument. Tim joined the temple ashram when he was a teenager in 1993, and when he is talking about meditation, he will often use examples from the Vedic and Vaishnava traditions. Veda are the largest and oldest texts of Eastern thought, which provided the cultural framework for modern-day Hinduism and Buddhism. |
As is common on yoga retreats, a small amount of karma-yoga is kindly requested of guests. This would simply be washing your own plate after meals. Most of our bedrooms do not have an en suite. We have one twin (or triple) room with an en suite. This can be available as a single en suite room by paying a supplement - on some retreats. We do not have WiFi. To let family know you've arrived, please just send a simple text message. Tim has a computer in his attic office which plugs into the internet by a cable. You're welcome to use this computer, but only at certain times. In general, a retreat is a good time to catch up on reading, writing, chatting with new people, and Nature. Also, as we are situated close to the border of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, some people have signal issues with their devices. NOTE: the bedrooms do not have a TV. Some people use this as a good reason to read, write or chat with others more. If you want to bring your own screen machine with pre-loaded material to watch, you can, but please bring headphones / earphones. ****** On many (but not all) retreats there is an option to visit Inish Rath Island on Saturday morning. We go over by rowing boat. The distance is 192 metres. On all retreats there is an option to visit the island temple on Sundays from 12 noon. This is using the temple's 40-foot / 12 metre long barge or ferry boat. One can choose to either visit the temple, or spend time in Nature among the thousands of mature trees there. |