This is a celebration of all the pilgrims and seekers...
For all who love Ireland and are having experiences calling them Home.
We will be gathering to socialize and view the "Ireland West Camino: A Pilgrimage Reborn" (documentary) with story-telling by Jeremy Schewe , Don Crookes and a few other pilgrims who walked 187-km of this "reborn" pilgrimage route in July 2024.
The 1.5-hour documentary focuses on the pilgrims' journey across Ireland as well as the restoration of a the last 170-km of the ancient, 540-km Bronze Age pilgrimage route across Ireland - the Ireland West Camino! A Pre-Premier screening is coming to Boston on July 14, 2025.
Here is the link to for more info and tickets/donations:
https://www.inchantedjourneys.com/irish-camino/prepremierdocumentary
Suggested donation: $15
Boston screening is set up as a "free will donation" basis - you choose how much you are willing to donate, though the suggested donation is at least $15 per person. All proceeds benefit the Pilgrimage Scholarship Fund for pilgrims with limited resources who are called to walk. Cash donations/tickets at the door are available. Venmo option: @JeremySchewe
Location:
John Warren Lodge, 6 Main St, Hopkinton, MA 01748, United States
Here is some back ground information about The Ireland West Camino:
The Tóchar Phádraig is a ±3,500-year-old Irish walking pilgrimage, now being called the Ireland West Camino, beginning in Downpatrick (N. Ireland) running down the east coast along the Irish Sea to Drogheda, turning west on the "Way of the Sun" at Drogheda to Rathcroghan (Cruachan Aí) and on to Croagh Patrick (also known as the Reek or Cruachán Aigle)- the holiest mountain in Ireland. The 540-km (336-mile) pilgrim's path can be traced back to a Bronze Age pilgrimage way (or older, some oral sources have mentioned as old as 4,500 years) that passes hundreds of sacred sites in County Down, County Armagh, County Louth, County Meath, County West Meath, County Cavan, County Longford, County Roscommon, County Sligo, and County Mayo. The Christian and pre-Christian Tóchar (bog road) winds by cashels, holy wells, fairy hills, standing stones, ancient ruins, abbeys, loughs, forests, bogs, and gorgeous mystical sites, ending in newly proposed UNESCO geopark in the Connemara: Joyce Country & Western Lakes Geopark.
According to legend, this pilgrim's path was walked by St. Patrick in the 5th century AD, though it had been utilized as a pre-Christian pilgrim's path and royal road in Connacht as far back as the Bronze Age. The Christian utilization of the Tóchar Phádraig is thus 500 years older than the Camino de Santiago, though fell into disuse post-Cromwell era. The incredible Celtic revival helped to restore the first section (1/2-day walk) of the pilgrimage beginning in 1903 with the combined efforts of Fr Michael McDonald, Fr. John Healy, and Fr Angelus - establishing a 7km pilgrimage that yearly attracts over 100,000 pilgrims and hikers. The pilgrim's path was further extended in the late 1980's by Fr Frank Fahey to a length of 35km and beginning at Ballintubber Abbey. The establishment of the Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail in 2009 added an additional 28km to the restoration of the tóchar, bringing the current trail start to the village of Balla (and now to Knock), and providing an alternate route to the top of Croagh Patrick. The first four days in Northern Ireland follow Alan Graham's St. Patrick's Way (diverging at Newry).
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