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St. Declan's Way - a pilgrim path between Ardmore and Cashel
Kilmaneen Farmhouse is approximately 5km from the route of St. Declan's Way between Ardfinnan and Goatenbridge. We are well positioned as an accommodation stop along the way. We offer a pick-up & drop-off facility (within 5km) and generally cater for the needs of the pilgrim walker.
Kevin has been heavily involved in the revival of this ancient route since 2006 through his own individual efforts and through the community group Knockmealdown Active.
Kevin has been heavily involved in the revival of this ancient route since 2006 through his own individual efforts and through the community group Knockmealdown Active.
A work in progressThe ancient pilgrim path of St. Declan’s Way takes an 96km (56 mile) route from Ardmore, Co. Waterford to the famous Rock of Cashel in Co. Tipperary.
While the trail has remained popular and well-known among walkers, the signage and other infrastructure have deteriorated in recent years. A voluntary committee with representation from communities along the route has been working to restore and improve St. Declan’s Way. With the backing of Waterford LEADER Partnership and Waterford City & County Council, and a grant of €150,000 under the Rural Recreation Fund, they have made big strides of late. Approval as a National Waymarked Trail is the ultimate aim. Work is currently (March 2018) in progress to replace or restore the route to a standard where it can be easily accessed and followed with clear sinage and maps. The map of the proposed new route is not yet available but will be posted here as soon as it ready for public use. |
Coming soon
Complete route of SDW in five stages starting Saturday April 27th 2019
Guided walking event
2019 will hopefully be the year when 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) is fully waymarked. The route now has its own website at www.stdeclansway.ie. If you know what this event is all about and just wish to book you can do so now at www.StDeclansWay.ie/Walks or read on if you wish to know more about the event.
To mark the occasion and in association with Pilgrim Paths Week 2019, Knockmealdown Active is organising a five stage guided walk of the entire route. The quintet of walks starts on Saturday, April 27th. To facilitate those wishing to take part, the walk will not be over consecutive days but in 5 Stages on the last Saturday of April, May, June, July and August. 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: April 27th – Cashel to Cahir (park in Cahir, bus to Cashel, walk to Cahir)
Second Stage: May 25th – Cahir to Goatenbridge (park in Goatenbridge, bus to Cahir, walk to Goatenbridge)
Third Stage: June 29th – Goatenbridge to Lismore (park in Lismore, bus to Goatenbridge, walk to Lismore)
Fourth Stage: July 27th – Lismore to Aglish (park in Aglish, bus to Lismore, walk to Aglish).
Fifth Stage: August 31st – Aglish to Ardmore (park in Ardmore, bus to Aglish, walk to Ardmore).
Participants must:
- buses to take walkers from their cars to the walk start.
- leaders and medics on hand during the event.
- refreshments at the beginning and end of each stage.
Walkers should make sure to bring adequate 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 April 27th, book accommodation in Cahir, not Cashel (the buses will leave from Cahir Castle car park 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.
*** For updates please Like and Share the St. Declan’s Way Facebook Page ***
Keep up to date with what has been happening along the various stages on Twitter and Instagram. You’ll find St. Declan’s Way at @StDeclansWay on both platforms using the hashtags #StDeclansWay and #PilgrimPaths.
Each stage costs €25 with an ‘early bird’ discount for the first 100 people to book 5 stages, which will cost €100.
Tickets are now available to purchase at www.StDeclansWay.ie/Walks.
2019 will hopefully be the year when 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) is fully waymarked. The route now has its own website at www.stdeclansway.ie. If you know what this event is all about and just wish to book you can do so now at www.StDeclansWay.ie/Walks or read on if you wish to know more about the event.
To mark the occasion and in association with Pilgrim Paths Week 2019, Knockmealdown Active is organising a five stage guided walk of the entire route. The quintet of walks starts on Saturday, April 27th. To facilitate those wishing to take part, the walk will not be over consecutive days but in 5 Stages on the last Saturday of April, May, June, July and August. 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: April 27th – Cashel to Cahir (park in Cahir, bus to Cashel, walk to Cahir)
Second Stage: May 25th – Cahir to Goatenbridge (park in Goatenbridge, bus to Cahir, walk to Goatenbridge)
Third Stage: June 29th – Goatenbridge to Lismore (park in Lismore, bus to Goatenbridge, walk to Lismore)
Fourth Stage: July 27th – Lismore to Aglish (park in Aglish, bus to Lismore, walk to Aglish).
Fifth Stage: August 31st – Aglish to Ardmore (park in Ardmore, bus to Aglish, walk to Ardmore).
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.
- buses to take walkers from their cars to the walk start.
- leaders and medics on hand during the event.
- refreshments at the beginning and end of each stage.
Walkers should make sure to bring adequate 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 April 27th, book accommodation in Cahir, not Cashel (the buses will leave from Cahir Castle car park 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.
*** For updates please Like and Share the St. Declan’s Way Facebook Page ***
Keep up to date with what has been happening along the various stages on Twitter and Instagram. You’ll find St. Declan’s Way at @StDeclansWay on both platforms using the hashtags #StDeclansWay and #PilgrimPaths.
Each stage costs €25 with an ‘early bird’ discount for the first 100 people to book 5 stages, which will cost €100.
Tickets are now available to purchase at www.StDeclansWay.ie/Walks.
A brief history of SDWThere are several accounts, as many as there are varied, of the story of St. Declan's Way but most would agree that St. Declan brought Christianity to the Deise region of Waterford and the surrounding area around AD 415 shortly before the arrival of St. Patrick to Ireland. St. Patrick therefore did not come any further south than Cashel in his mission to bring Christianity to the whole of Ireland. St. Declan left Ardmore and went to meet St. Patrick many times in Cashel, among other places, and so the pilgrim route was born.
Here are some pieces of information gathered from the many accounts of the life of St. Declan. By far the most comprehensive ones are from Siobhán Lincoln of Ardmore in her books 'Declan of Ardmore' and 'Along St. Declan's Way'. It is from these books that most of the following information is taken. Declan's birth & childhood St. Declan was born while his parents, Erc Mac Trein and his wife Déithin, were on a visit to a kinsman, Dobhrán in Dromrue between Lismore and Cappoquin. A ball of fire was seen blazing on the summit of the house in which the child lay, reaching up to Heaven and down again and surrounded by angels. It assumed the shape of a ladder. Colman came & baptised Declan & foretold his future greatness. Colman had commanded that Declan should be brought up with due care, be well trained and be sent to study at the age of seven. From then, Diona, a devout man who acquired learning abroad, instructed Declan for a considerable period. Declan's Bell Declan went to Rome with his followers to obtain authority to preach to the Irish people. Declan was made bishop by the Pope and began his return journey accompanied by many Romans including Runán, son of the King of Rome. On the road through Italy he had a friendly meeting with Patrick who was not yet a bishop. Declan was saying Mass one day when there was sent him from Heaven a little black bell which came through the window of the church and remained on the altar before Declan. He gave the bell for safe keeping to Runán and many miracles were worked through it's agency. When Declan & his followers arrived at the English Channel they did not have enough money to find a ship to take them to England. Declan struck his bell and prayed and then saw coming towards them a sailing ship and no man therein. They went on board and floated safely to England. On disembarking the ship turned back to the place from which it had come. Declan, along with Ailbe, Ibar and Ciaran then came to Ireland before the arrival of St. Patrick. Declan came to the Deise in Co. Waterford and built numerous churches there. After some time Declan went to visit Aongus MacNatfrich, King of Cashel to convert him to the faith of Christ. The King put no obstacle in the way of Declan's preaching but he neither believed nor accepted baptism for himself at that time but was later baptised by St. Patrick. Declan came back to the Déise & continued to preach & baptise. It is said that Declan went to Rome many times. St. Declan's Stone. While on a visit to St. David of Wales during his return journey, Runán forgot the bell that was in his care. There was musch consternation when this was discovered. After much prayer they saw a rock floating on the water with a bell on top. It passed the ship and Declan followed it. He decided that werever it landed 'there my City and Bishopric will be and there my Ressurection will be'. It came ashore at Inis Ard na gCaorach. A member of his party ascended the hill, and queried the wisdom of setting up on what he called 'this little height'. Declan is said to have replied: "Do not call it little hill, but Great Height." The land was granted by the king of the Déisí, and was named 'Ardmore Declan'. Following Declan's prayers, the generosity of the king was echoed and enhanced by God, when the sea retreated from between the island and the mainland, leaving a more substantial swathe of land to the nascent community. After this, "many persons came to Declan, drawn from the uttermost parts of Ireland, by the fame of his holy living". Thus the monastery grew. The 'travelling boulder', which bore the bell and guided Declan to Ardmore, is known today as 'St Declan's Stone', and lies on a rocky ledge of beach beneath the village of Ardmore. It is of a different geology to the rocks around it, and wonderful virtues are attributed to it. On the feast day of St Declan, 24 July, devotees crawl between the stone and the underlying rocks to invoke the healing powers of the monument. St. Patrick comes to Ireland. Meanwhile Patrick came to Ireland and was brought to Cashel by Aongus, King of Cashel. Declan & Patrick had many interactions which are described in detail in Siobhan Lincoln's 'Declan of Ardmore'. They worked together to spread the Word of Christ. Miracles of Declan. In Siobhán Lincoln's book there are also several accounts of miracles worked by St. Declan during his lifetime. Death of Declan. Declan foresaw his own death and asked to be brought to Diseart Deagláin, a narrow place at the brink of the sea by which there flows down from the hill above a shining stream. He went there to avoid noise and to pray & fast. He blessed all his people and when he died he was buried with honour in the tomb which, by direction of an angel, he had himself indicated. |
Current routeThe current St. Declan’s Way Walk utilises the route of a number of ancient and medieval pilgrimage and trading routes such as the Rian Bo Phadraig (Track of St.Patrick’s Cow), Bothar na Naomh (Road of the Saints), Casan na Naomh (Path of the Saints) and St. Declan’s Road.
In 1994, Ardmore Enterprise Cooperative produced a brochure on St. Declan’s Way, including detailed maps drawn by Barry Dalby of EastWest mapping. It tries to remain faithful to the ancient highways. This map has been out of print for many years but you can see a copy below & section maps in our Photo Gallery, making allowances for their poor condition. While the route itself has deteriorated in the recent years, it is still partially signposted. The route is also available online for self-navigation free of charge on Viewranger Photo Gallery
Take a look at our Photo Gallery for inspiring images of SDW Click on each one for larger image List of recommended reading
List of recommended websites www.stevebarhamramblingman.wordpress.com/tag/st-declans-way http://www.monasticireland.com/historicsites/ardmore.htm http://saintsandstones.net/saints-ardmore-journey.htm http://www.ardmorewaterford.com/st-declans-well-ardmore |
Promoting SDWKnockmealdown Active.
A community group, Knockmealdown Active, was set up to promote activities at the foothills of the northern side of the Knockmealdown mountains. The group has a special interest in the rejuvination of St. Declan's Way and has been very active in organising guided walks along the route of the acient pilgrim path and raising awareness about it's potential. Kevin is a founder member of this group and, you could say, St. Declan's Way is his pet project. St. Declan's Way Passport & Badge Knockmealdown Active printed the SDW Passport so that, like the Camino de Santiago, you will be able to have your passport stamped at 10 locations along the route including here at Kilmaneen Farmhouse. Also, there is a SDW badge available for enthusiasts. 1) Follow this link to read about John G O'Dwyer's article describing the Christmas 2017 walk along SDW.
SDW Christmas Walk 2) An account of John G O'Dwyer's adventure with Knockmealdown Active on St. Declan's Way from Mt. Melleray Abbey to Ardfinnan. Easter 2016. SDW Mt. Melleray to Ardfinnan 3) This link celebrates the proposed reopening of the new route of St. Declan's Way in an article by John G O'Dwyer in the Irish Examiner. 22 January 2018 Proposed re-opening of SDW |