Five hikes where you can get Irish Pilgrim Passport stamps

Ireland has a dense network of mystical paths and a vibrant pilgrim tradition, with most routes long predating the Spanish Camino

St Kevin's Way, County Wicklow Picture: John G O'Dwyer

The Spanish Camino has undoubtedly been the European tourism phenomenon of the 21st century. Numbers footing this ancient fishing net of Spanish routes have risen from fewer than a thousand in 1985 to almost half a million today. Until recently, however, almost none of the pilgrim walkers, bringing large amounts of spending to northwest Spain, would have considered Ireland an alternate destination; conventional wisdom held that this country possessed little in terms of penitential walks.

The truth is that Ireland actually has a dense network of mystical paths and a vibrant pilgrim tradition, with most routes long predating the Camino. Lough Derg was, and still is, one of Europe’s foremost pilgrim destinations, while medieval penitents also journeyed to Glendalough, Skellig Michael, Gougane Barra, Croagh Patrick and Mount Brandon. Despite past popularity, however, Ireland’s sacred tracks were almost totally forgotten for generations, since virtually nothing was done to reignite awareness of their existence.