2018 marks the momentus reopening of the 104km long St. Declan’s Way Pilgrim Path from Cashel to Ardmore (or Ardmore to Cashel, depending on which way you choose to approach it).
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To mark the occasion, and in association with Pilgrim Paths Week 2018, Knockmealdown Active is organising a five stage guided walk of the entire route. The quintet of walks starts on Saturday, March 31st. To facilitate those wishing to take part, the walk will not be over consecutive days but in 5 Stages on the last Saturday of March, April, May, June and July. For most people this will means no time off work for a historic chance to be part of the first group to fully walk this restored route.
Stages are approximately 20 km each and run on the last Saturday of the month and are as follows:
First Stage: March 31st – Cashel to Cahir (park in Cahir, bus to Cashel, walk to Cahir) – Completed
Second Stage: April 28th – Cahir to Goatenbridge (park in Goatenbridge, bus to Cahir, walk to Goatenbridge) – Completed
Third Stage: May 26th – Goatenbridge to Lismore (park in Lismore, bus to Goatenbridge, walk to Lismore) – Booked Out (while stocks last you can book a replacement space to replace any cancellations below if you wish).
Fourth Stage: June 30th – Lismore to Aglish (park in Aglish, bus to Lismore, walk to Aglish) – limited availability.
Fifth Stage: July 28th – Aglish to Ardmore (park in Ardmore, bus to Aglish, walk to Ardmore) – limited availability.
Participants must:
- Be over 16 years of age.
- Be in a fit physical condition.
- Have reasonable walking experience.
- Have wind and waterproof clothing & wear suitable footwear.
- Bring a fully charged mobile phone.
- Sign in at the start and finish check points on the day.
- Pay the entry fee in advance (booking is online only, see booking options below).
- No dogs allowed – unfortunately we are not in a position to cater for them.
The payment covers buses to take walkers from their cars to the walk start, team leaders and medics on hand during the event. It also includes food at the end of each stage. Walkers should make sure to bring snacks and drinks for the duration of the walk.
Accommodation
Any accommodation participants may need is not included in the event price. If you are booking accommodation be sure to book it at the destination for the day’s walk, otherwise you will have to organise transport to bring you back to where the walk began, e.g. for stage one on March 31st, book accommodation in Cahir, not Cashel (the bus will leave from the car park behind Cahir House Hotel and the walk will return there in the afternoon).
You can find a list of available accommodation along the route on this link. Note, this accommodation list is not vetted or promoted by Knockmealdown Active in any way, it is simply provided for the convenience of those who may need the information.
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Keep up to date with what has been happening along the various stages on Twitter and Instagram. You’ll find us at @KMDActive on both platforms using the hashtags #StDeclansWay and #PilgrimPaths.
Tickets can be purchased as follows (prices include bus and food at the end of each stage):
Note: Payments are processed by PayPal. You can pay using Debit/Credit card without a PayPal account but you will need to do so on a PC as the service is not available on mobile platforms.
Replacement Place – Goatenbridge to Lismore
or you can book one or more of the remaining stages:
A Single Stage – Final Two Stages
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