by Sharenda Barlar
I chose the Kerry route as an object of investigation because of the recent work to build an infrastructure based on the Spanish Camino. The Kerry route follows the path of Saint Brendan, who set out from Kerry to spread the gospel to the coast of Ireland. During the three day walk, we gathered data to offer suggestions for how other ancient routes can be restored in environmentally friendly ways that respect private property and foster community and spiritual growth.
Starting the Journey
We hired a service, Camino Ways, to make our accommodations and to transport our bags. They sent us a pilgrim’s passport, a map, and baggage tags. We took a four hour train from Dublin to Tralee and spent the night at a hotel.
I had completed a portion of the French Camino in the past month where I walked approximately 20k a day for three weeks and had hiked extensively in Iceland, so I felt prepared for the hike. That night, we attended mass and received a special blessing from the priest and got a stamp at St. John’s church.
Day 1: Tralee to Camp
This was a 17K walk with a 200 Meter ascent. The terrain was rugged and we walked with the water views most of the day as well as sheep for company. It had not been raining, yet parts of the trail were quite boggy.
We walked for 3 kilometers and there was a Texaco station open where we purchased sandwiches for our trip. We did not see any other places to eat or stop until we reached Camp, 14k later. This was very different from the Camino, where pilgrims have a place to stop every 5k or so. In case you may ask why we couldn’t use more well-traveled routes and roads, there is no shoulder and the roads are often one lane.
Camp had a welcoming pub for a drink after a long walk but there were no accommodations in town available so we had to take a cab back to Tralee for the night. We saw approximately 30 trekkers on the route but none were pilgrims. In addition, once we arrived to the pub, we realized that many were locals on a day hike. There were two stamping stations on the route, yet the pub that was explicitly listed on the Kerry Camino route not only did not have a stamp, but the staff did not even know what the Kerry Camino was! Clearly, the community needs more information about the Kerry Camino.
Day 2: Camp to Annascaul
We took a taxi to Camp and began our journey again. This walk was 19k and we spent much of the day in sheep pastures. The way was clearly marked with Kerry Camino signage and we crossed over private property much of the day.
Landowners were friendly, and we met one woman in particular who asked us if we needed anything. I responded that we were fine but then I heard her speak in Spanish to her dogs and found out that she was Spanish and that she was very familiar with the Camino.
She insisted that we come to her house for tea and cake because she had always been taught to show hospitality to pilgrims. She was one of the highlights of our day!
We had a delightful lunch at Inch Beach and continued on to Annascaul where we encountered Irene, a pub owner who took us to our bed and breakfast. She had walked the Spanish Camino and was so excited we were walking the Celtic Camino. She said that most pilgrims travel in May for St. Brandon. We saw no walkers at all on day 2.
Day 3: Annascaul to Dingle
This was perhaps the hardest walk. It was not clearly marked and we were climbing most of the day through farmland.
It was also the longest day of our trip, with 22k only broken up at the 10k mark in a small village. We arrived at Dingle after 8 hours of walking. We did see more walkers but none of them were pilgrims.
Dingle was delightful and we ended our journey at St. James' Church.
The history of the church clearly outlines its importance for pilgrims beginning their journey to Spain’s coast. The Dingle tourism office provided us with their own Kerry Compostela that we can use if we chose to complete the English Camino that starts in A Coruña.
Because of space constraints, I am unable to discuss in depth the infrastructure and management of the Kerry Camino, but I have written an extended paper that outlines suggestions for future pilgrims wishing to combine this pilgrimage with a route in Spain. Please contact me if you are interested in reading it!
In conclusion, the Kerry Camino provides excellent ground work for research that can be shared with the Confraternity of St. James as we think about restoring ancient walks in the UK that run through private property.
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