If you’ve been hoping for an opportunity to get out and stretch your legs this long weekend with the kids off school, you might consider some of Ireland’s ancient pilgrim walks.

While most people are under the impression that they have to travel to France or Spain for the Camino, chairman of the Pilgrim Paths of Ireland John G O’Dwyer said that there are plenty of holy walks across Ireland.

“What very few people realise, and we’re trying to get around to that, we have 500 kilometres of fully waymarked pilgrim walks in Ireland,” he told The Inside Track with Adrian Kennedy.

“This is where I get to plug for Ireland; all of them are at least 500 years older than the Camino, and some are a thousand years.

“We’re trying to get that out both to Irish people – and that’s the idea of Pilgrim Paths Week – and also to the diaspora abroad.”

Hikers. Image via Pilgrim Path on Facebook.

Pilgrim Paths Week runs from April 18th to April 27th and promotes spiritual treks across Ireland.

“Most people [that do a pilgrim walk] aren’t religious at all,” Mr O’Dwyer said.

“Hiking is a physical journey, I think this, to some extent, is an inner journey.

“Even at a subconscious level, I think they are looking for some kind of change, something in their life, and pilgrim walking is ideal for that.

“If you’re climbing Mount Blanc or Carrauntoohil, you have to concentrate – these are waymarked, so there is time when you don’t have to think about the walk and you can reflect.”

Recommendations

For those looking to undertake one of these walks, Mr O’Dwyer gave a few recommendations, starting with Littleton Peatway in Tipperary.

“This is a new innovation, it’s a walk through an old Bord na Mona bog,” he said.

“It’s a lovely way to introduce people to the countryside – and of course, it’s level, there’s a lot of ways of doing it.

“You could go down to Lough Derry Villa, park there – which is near Littleton Village – and you can walk or cycle.”

“You stop along the way because there is the island where the famous Derrynaflan Chalice was found, they are still a monastic site.”

Mr O’Dwyer said this is “place that has huge echoes of history”.

For more information on Ireland’s pilgrim walks, you can visit www.pilgrimpath.ie.

Main image: St Kevin's Way pligrim path in Wicklow. Image via Pilgrim Path Facebook.