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St. Finbarr’s Way

January 7, 2014 by Dunmanus

Stretching from the Top of the Rock, Drimoleague, to Gougane Barra – a distance of 31 kilometres – this two-day walk follows in the footsteps of Saint Finbarr who visited Drimoleague in the 6th century.

The St. Finbarr’s Way walk – Slí Bharra – passes through the village of Kealkill, taking in part of the Carriganass walks on the way.

St Finbarr's WayPilgrims who follow in St. Finbarr’s path cross three valleys and four mountain systems before they arrive at Gougane Barra, and they complete the journey by joining the Beara-Breifne Way to complete a steep and spectacular descent, with the hermitage of St Finbarr visible below in its serene lake island setting.

On Easter weekend 2014, the route will be walked by pilgrims taking part in Ireland’s first Pilgrim Paths event. For the first time in many years, bands of pilgrims will walk each of Ireland’s pilgrim paths simultaneously, reflecting as they walk on the beauty of creation laid out before them.

Places are still available if you would be interested in joining the pilgrims travelling along St. Finbarr’s Way.

This is a difficult and challenging walk in places and should not be undertaken in poor weather. Guided pilgrim walks on this route are available at www.westcorkwalking.com. You can purchase the Drimoleague Heritage Walkways book at Centra, Drimoleague for more details.

To shorten the route, you can choose to walk the ‘Pilgrim’s Way‘ section only. This involves you walking to Gougane Barra from Carringanass Castle in Kealkill.

The walk has won praise from Carl O’Brien in The Irish Times.

Filed Under: Drimoleague Heritage Walkways, St Finbarr's Way, Walking

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Visit Historic Places

Bantry House B&B

The Sheep’s Head is a peninsula rich in history and you’ll find traces of its past all along the Sheep’s Head Way walking route.

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Featured Activity

House Sign: The Old Arundel Farmhouse

Letter-Cutting Courses

Learn traditional letter-carving skills under the tuition of an experienced stonecarver on West Cork’s Sheep’s Head peninsula. Victor Daly leads regular letter-cutting and stone-carving courses at his workshop just outside the village of Ahakista on the Sheep’s Head peninsula in West Cork. His 1-day letter-cutting courses are held throughout the year. Please get in touch […]

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Seaview House Hotel

Seaview House Hotel

Welcome to Seaview House Hotel, a delightful 4-star country house hotel set in private and well-tended grounds. Seaview is ideally-located in the quiet village of Ballylickey beside Bantry in the heart of West Cork. West Cork’s wonderful countryside is all around you here. Meanwhile the historic market town of Bantry is just 4 kilometres away. […]

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This project has been supported by Cork County Council & the LEADER programme under the Rural Development Programmes 2007-13 and 2017-2021.
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