Pilgrims progress across Clare

This week a gathering will set out on the county’s first Clare-based pilgrimage walk, the first stage in a proposed Camino de Santiago de Compostela (the Way of St James)-style walk that aims to link the county’s holy places.
Set up by the newly formed Clare Pilgrim Way Group, stage one of the proposed walk has been mapped out to take in a variety of West and North Clare sacred places and will take place over a four-day period starting on Thursday, August 11.
Local poet Brian Mooney explained the idea behind the walk and revealed that his interest in ecclesiastical sites date back almost 20 years when he discovered 11th century sites in his native Kilfenora.
“The Camino idea has become very popular. The journey without, to the journey within, is our thing. How I got interested was a daughter of ours did the Camino about 10 years ago, then I did it and then the rest of our family did it and it had a huge influence. Having talked to people afterwards they were saying why don’t we have something like that here?” he said.
Another member of the group, Maureen Kelly, explained that in her job with the Killaloe Diocese working to cluster nine parishes in West Clare, St Senan became a common denominator with which to bring the parishes together. During Lent one year, it had been decided by the cluster to do a number of pilgrim walks linking places in the landscape that had a connection with St Senan of Scattery, things like holy wells and St Senan’s Altar. Through this endeavour she came in contact with Brian Mooney.
“We were very surprised by the uptake and with the interest locally in walking. while the institution of the church is an elderly church but we discovered in the walking that it was a different type of thing, a lot of families came out.
“We took the line from St Augustian, Solvitur Ambulando, which means it is solved by walking and we feel that is people’s experience these days. They go out walking when they have problems or stress and they find it helpful. So we were also connecting with the inner and outer journey, on one level it is a physical journey but in the walking itself there is a lot going on in terms of having time to reflect and think about our own journey in life,” she said.
The more they talked about it, the more they realised that there was an interest in such a walk. Maureen admits that “instead of thinking about it and tossing it around we said why don’t we do it, do a stage and see how it goes”.
Brian commented that with many walking routes, it is merely a route of convenience more than a route that has any deeper meaning or connection with anything in particular. He believes this is where this idea will be different to other walking routes in Clare.
“You need to breed more into these walks than just walking them and that’s our aim, to give them a meaning,” he said.
The walk aims to take in approximately 80km over four days starting in Molougha three miles east of Kilrush and following a route up the west coast ending at St Brigid’s well near the Cliffs of Moher. The route will pass through country roads, woodland, bog roads, sandy beaches and rocky shores.
The route begins at 9.30am next Thursday from St Senan’s Well in Molougha, the birthplace of St Senan. It will continue on a coastal route on Friday at 9.30am from St Senan’s Altar, Doonbeg going onto Spanish Point, via Killard. The next day the group will set out from Spanish Point to the Cathedral in Kilfenora via Kilfarboy and Cahersherkin. The stage will conclude on Sunday departing the Cathedral in Kilfenora, again at 9.30am, and going to St Brigid’s Well, Liscannor, through Kilshanny and Kilmacreehy.
Canon Bob Hanna is also involved in the project. He outlined the rich heritage that Clare has should be drawn on from a spiritual and cultural level.
“We have a special history here in Clare and on the West Coast which we think can be captured as inspiration for walkers. This is the land of Senan, Colman, Fachtna, Tola and Mochulla,” Canon Hanna said.
St Senan is the primary focus coming through in the first stage of this walk and it is aimed that the second phase, when developed, will go from Kilfenora across to Inis Cealtra which may have a focus on St Colman and would represent a very different tradition.
Maura Egan, another of the group who has been involved in mapping the routes, explained that the first stretch on the stage will cover the area where St Senan was supposed to have first seen Scattery Island.
“It was his place of vision and where he said this was going to be the place where he would have his monastery,” she outlined.
A core group of 12 will complete the entire four-day walk and others are welcome to join them. There is an open invitation to anyone who would like to join the group on any given day during the stage by meeting at the day’s start point at 9.30am.
In addition and in conjunction with the pilgrim walk a radio documentary on the life of St Senan focusing especially on his journeys to Europe, will be presented by its producer Ray Conway in the Kilkee Bay Hotel from 8pm on Thursday, August 11.
Anyone interested in getting involved with the Clare Pilgrim Way can contact Brian Mooney on 065 6835698, Maura Egan at 087 1264527, Maureen Kelly 087 2890942 or email pastoralwestclare@gmail.com.