In his first vision he was lifted out of darkness by three luminous beings into a choir of angels singing “The saints shall go from strength to strength: the God of gods shall be seen of them in Zion”. Three days later he received his second vision, in which they took him down into Hades where he saw an army of demons waging war against God. He described them as filled with ugliness, filthiness, long-necked with faces covered by a darkness too malign to bare. Though the fiends shot fiery darts, the three angelic hosts shielded him. Then Satan arose and quoted scripture in order to condemn him on idle talk, unforgiveness, lack of innocence and lack of charity. But at each accusation, the holy angels reproved the evil one who, in anger, called God unjust that a sinner should be saved.

Then, St. Fursey perceived below four great fires in the air rising from a valley of darkness. These were fires which consume sinners who had been baptised but had made no effort in the spiritual life. The first was kindled by lying, because at baptism we promise to renounce the works of Satan. The second (lit by lies) was avarice, kindled by a preference for worldly riches over heavenly ones. The third (lit by avarice) was dissension, stoked by a lack of fear of offending the souls of our neighbours. The fourth (lit by dissension) was mercilessness, stoked by robbing and defrauding the weak. Because Fursey had committed none of these, the fires did not touch him. However, on the way back to his body, a demon in the mist of the fire threw a suffering sinner at Fursey and they locked jaw to jaw. The angel explained ‘had he not accepted a stolen garment from this sinner on Earth, his punishment would not have burned his body.’ Miraculously, Fursey bore the same burn on his bodily jaw and shoulder after the return of his soul.