A sort of ‘Celtic Camino,’ a recently-created footpath linking a number of religious sites in southeast Ireland with more sites in Pembrokeshire, Wales has been drawing increasing numbers of visitors.
The Wexford-Pembrokeshire Pilgrim Way is taking advantage of a trend in recent years by travelers following pilgrimage paths, although not necessarily for religious reasons. The historic pilgrimage routes in Europe to Santiago de Compostela, Spain have especially seen increases.
The Wexford part of the route includes a stop at Our Lady’s Island, already a lure to around 50,000 pilgrims every August. The route runs from the ‘holy well’ of Maedoc (St Aidan) in Ferns, Ireland to the well of St Non near St Davids in Pembrokeshire, a distance of 162 miles, interrupted by a 3.5-hour ferry ride from Rosslare in Ireland to Fishguard in Wales, supposedly the same route taken by Maedoc on his way to study under St David.
Image: Our Lady’s Island (Andreas F. Borchert/Wikimedia Commons)
