A PERSONAL project by an Irish-American to map out a route following in the footsteps of St Patrick from Rathcroghan, the ancient seat of the Kings of Connacht, to Croagh Patrick, may have sparked a major tourism project for Mayo.
The Ireland West Camino – a 180km walking trail from Rathcroghan near Tulsk in Co Roscommon to Croagh Patrick – was officially launched at Knock House Hotel.
The launch was attended by senior officials from Mayo County Council and Fáilte Ireland, Minister of State, Dara Calleary; Rector of Knock Shrine, Fr Richard Gibbons; Fr Joe Gavigan; Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr John O’Hara and members of the Tochar Valley Rural Community Network who all backed the initiative to develop the walking trail.
Mapping the route
Unlike many aspirational projects, the heavy lifting involved in the mapping of the route has already been completed by American Jeremy Schewe, an ecologist with a background in geospatial environmental planning.
After twice walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain in 2023, he wanted to do a similar pilgrimage walk in Ireland. With family connections in Sligo and the west of Ireland, he chose to walk in the footsteps of St Patrick. With no route to follow from Rathcroghan to Croagh Patrick, he decided to use his skills to map the route himself, which was the catalyst for the creation of the Ireland West Camino.
“My wife and I decided we were going to do the walk, and since there wasn’t an existing route I said well I will put it together based on what I read about,” Jeremy told The Mayo News.
“We started talking about it to a lot of our friends in the States and people kept saying we want to come with you. I realised there were going to be a lot of people who wanted to walk with us this July so I thought the best thing to do was map it out in ArcGIS Field Maps so everyone could walk it at their own pace.
“My background in geospatial environmental planning as well as being a professional ecologist I was able to put things together from OSI maps. The work I did is easy enough because that is what I do professionally, I just took some time during the winter to work on it.
“I put together a very detailed map of the route breaking it up into stages using ArcGIS software, and I indicated on it where all the accommodation was and where there was places to eat and stores and pubs and more importantly the archeology sites and the churches and so on,” explained Jeremy who is a native of Cincinnati but now lives in Asheville, North Carolina.
Expertise
While organising accommodation for the trip which was to take place in July, Jeremy was advised to get in contact with Sr Maureen Lally, Manager of the Tochar Valley Rural Community Network, who was instrumental in developing the Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail from Balla to the holy mountain.
“I reached out to Sr Maureen, and we talked and hit it off like two peas in a pod,” Jeremy recalled on his first contact with the former Mayo Person of the Year.
The Tochar Valley Rural Community Network had wanted to continue to extend the trial and they could not believe the work Jeremy had done on the project after he showed them his work over a Zoom call in the new year.
“When he showed us the work he had done with the maps, this was exactly what we have been looking for for years, and we had been pleading for a higher authority to draw up these plans,” explained Mary B Prendergast, the Chairperson of the Network.
“We would never have got the expertise or the funding,” added Sr Maureen. “He has the most modern technology in mapping but above all he is deeply committed and has a heart and a spirit.”
Jeremy travelled to Ireland in February to carry out a ‘ground truth survey’ of the two possible routes he had mapped out before returning in July with 20 other pilgrims for the inaugural eight-day walk.
An official ‘sending off’ ceremony took place at the Rathcroghan Visitors Centre in Tulsk on July 2, and on July 25, the group reached Knock for the official launch.
‘A calling’
Mary Prendergast and Sr Maureen explained that the network came in behind Jeremy Schewe’s project and they came up with the name the Ireland West Camino. Mary explained that Anna Connor, the Tourism Officer with Mayo County Council and Director of Services Joanne Grehan were both approached about the initiative and they both were very supportive of the idea of the launch.
She added that the work done by Jeremy has moved forward the idea of developing and connecting the existing Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail with Rathcroghan. She added that by attending the sending off ceremony in Tulsk, the Tochar Valley Rural Community Network had seen the great work done by the Rathcroghan Visitor Centre and they looked forward to cooperating with them to develop the trail.
“We are very excited about this project because the co-operation is already there and it is a matter of linking everything together. He [Schewe] has a lot of work done with the mapping and it is just a matter of refining things if needed,” she said.
Jeremy described his work as ‘100 percent a calling’ and said he was happy to hand over his work ‘pro bono’ to help the route get off the ground. Having reached Croagh Patrick in time for Reek Sunday, Jeremy said the walk was more rewarding to him than the Camino in Spain, and the group he was with could not get over the hospitality of the local people they met along the route.
Potential
Schewe already has plans to bring more pilgrims from the States and believes that if the route is developed and advertised it has huge potential to attract hundreds of pilgrims and walkers to the region.
“There is going to be a huge opportunity here,” he said. “I think probably seven or ten years before it’s really busy but with proper funding to help drive interest, because of the speed of information, it is possible to ramp up much faster.
“I did the walk in February and in July, so I would do it any time of the year. I would take showers in Ireland all day rather than walking through peak sun in Spain. The Ireland West Camino has the potential and magnetism to attract a lot of people to do something that is spiritually meaningful, or they can walk it for the sake of walking.
“Having that strong connection with the land and cooler climate and the fact it goes through multiple sacred sites including Knock as well as Croagh Patrick are major pulls. Having talked to the other 20 people who were involved, the biggest reflections were the Irish hospitality and the kindness of the people along the way.
“I have to reiterate how important I feel this is for the west of Ireland. We have an opportunity to walk something very mystical and powerful and beautiful that transcends the time landscape of Ireland and embraces all the spiritual transitions of Ireland,” he said.
The long-term goal for Mary, Sr Maureen and Jeremy would eventually develop a trail linking Croagh Patrick with Downpatrick in Co Down, the burial place of St Patrick and link with other ancient trails.
Until then, they will concentrate on getting support to develop the trail to Rathcroghan, but Sr Maureen believe’s Jeremy’s work has lit a flame to get things done.
“A fire has been lit and I hope the flames from that will flow into everyone’s heart and home and community, and Mayo will benefit. This is the beginning, and it will eventually go to all Ireland.”