Some say I’m a dreamer. In the past, It has gotten me into some trouble. Looking out windows wishing I could be somewhere else, only to focus on the task at hand. I used to think it was a habit but in my formative years, it wasn’t the case.

Last week, I turned another year on the calendar. I usually take a day off work to celebrate. However, the week before I wanted to celebrate the day by giving something back. What could I do? I could walk! I am good at that!

The Saturday beforehand I created a birthday fundraiser on Facebook with all funds going to Epilepsy Ireland. Epilepsy is a condition I have lived with for nearly 30 years and Epilepsy Ireland do great things spreading awareness and provide assistance to those with epilepsy and their families.

I saw the weather forecast for Monday, the 16th, It was due to be sunny but cold. Perfect walking weather. So the decision was made. I would walk from Dun Laoghaire in the south of Dublin to Howth Harbour, 24kms in total. Dublin’s own coastal Camino. We also call it the Sli na Slainte, the Harbour to Harbour or Celtic Camino. For me, it was just an opportunity to give back.

I got off the 8.30 am train at Dun Laoghaire, tired. It was frosty but quiet at the Harbour. I started to walk northbound with the sea on my right-hand side. The route hogs the coast until it reaches Seapoint where it diverts to the town. At every given opportunity, I reached back to the sea. I passed a few Martello towers, built by the British during the 19th century, for defensive reasons.

I arrived at the River Liffey and the Northside close to midday but I was nowhere near finished at this stage. I had 11km completed, although I had the drab East Wall road to walk down. This was the heart of industrial Dublin.

One of the nicer parts of the northside is Clontarf and it was a joy to walk along the coast here. There is a good area for walking and cycling right until Bayside – another 5 km away.

Just after 2 pm, and 24km later, I arrived in Howth. I must admit I was tired but very content. I didn’t stick around and returned home for some rest.

I just want to thank everyone who gave a few euros for the fundraiser. Together we raised over €200 and I’m super proud of that. I might make this an annual thing and walk a different route each year, who knows? This was a win-win for everyone. I got to witness the beauty of Dublin one more time (I have walked this route many a time) and helped a great cause.

6 Things I Did in 2018

Another year has passed. So much has happened in the past 12 months involving the Camino. It’s nice to have the last few weeks free to reflect on the past and think of the future. I’ve decided to do another post where I look back on 2018. 

1. The end of the year saw the first ever Camino Society Ireland Photo Contest on the 16th of December 2017 at St. James Church in Dublin. A photo I took near Ledigos was included in that exhibition and also in an exhibition in the Cervantes Institute in Lincoln Place. I wrote about the first exhibition here and the second exhibition in March here. These same photos have travelled from Ireland to Spain and back again and are currently situated in the Information Centre in St. James Street. 
2. Another way of being a pilgrim on the Camino is to Volunteer. I gladly “give back” to the Camino through Camino Society Ireland. As well as giving information in the centre in St. James Street in Dublin, I edit their quarterly newsletter “Shamrocks And Shells” and help with social media. The newsletter is now a little over a year old and 4 issues have been produced, with over 20 thousand views. Something I am quite proud of.
3. The first Celtic Camino Festival in Westport was a success. I was there from the 13th to the 15th of April 2018 and it was marked with talks, a showing of the Camino Voyage, and a Celtic Camino walk. I wrote an article here.
4. December 28th will mark my 1st year in Donabate. A great little town but with so much work planned for the future, I’m not sure if I am to call this home just yet. Over 700 homes have been approved, but without the right facilities and infrastructure, it will be chaos going to and from work. The Northern Commuter train line is fine but there are no bus services. 
5. I walked the Camino Portuguese with my brother from A Guarda in May. We walked into Santiago in the rain. I loved every second of it.
6. Immediately on returning, I booked flights to return to the Camino Frances. I walked from Puente la Reina to Burgos in September.

6 Photo Memories of 2018

A List of What You Want to Change in the New Year

There are many things in my life I am happy with. I’m loving life in my new home, I have many good friends but I would be lying if I said I am 100% happy with my lot. I’m not. There are a few areas I want to better myself in and there is no time like the New Year to start. So here’s my list for 2018:

• Focus on my blog. My blog has been slipping. I just need to allocate my time more evenly. I have upgraded the blog in the last few weeks so there is no excuse now for more content. With planned Caminos in May and September, I will hope to upload videos from my time in Spain.
• Think of ways to walk a full 30+ day Camino, whilst still managing to pay a mortgage. 
• Plan a trip to Canada to visit peregrino friends (for 2019 or beyond).
• Improve my writing, maybe find a writing skills course.
• Make more of an effort to meet new people and be more social.
• Dig out my guitar again: it has been so long since I played a tune. I guess confidence comes into it. 

Your Resolutions?

And there we have it. Another summary of my year. How was your 2018?

Instagram is officially defined as an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them either publicly or privately on the app. It is increasingly being used to share photos from everywhere around the world and about a whole host of subjects, including the Camino de Santiago. There are many people who use the service to share photos with friends and family while walking the Camino. However, with the growing popularity of the routes in Spain, more are using Instagram to gather information or fill the gap before they return on another Camino.

At the end of last year, I wrote about my favourite accounts but I suppose now I want to update and expand a bit on those favourites. You should click on the below links and have a browse some of their photos. Instagram is a completely free site and I suppose the only downside is you may want to buy some airline tickets to Spain once you have finished.

In no particular order:

Robb Mac – An Australian who says that the Camino is her beautiful obsession

Andrew Suzuki – Andrew is a filmmaker, photographer, philosophiser and pilgrim. Most of all he is the creator of the Beyond the Way documentary.

followingthearrows  – Kat Davis is a serial walker, pilgrim, thru-hiker, adventure-seeker & blogger.

followtheyellowarrow – Micah walked the Camino Frances in June 2016 and recently created a dedicated Instagram account about the Camino. He has already built up a large following.

paulwalshpilgrim – Paul has uploaded a large number of photos depicting my walk across France and Spain.You can find out more information of his photo project on www.paulwalshphotography.co.uk

setmeravelles – I know Pablo through this blog. While his Instagram is not dedicated to the Camino, all his photos are taken in Spain. He has also recently walked a portion of the Camino Norte. His blog is at www.setmeravelles.com.

donalomahony – Donal is a fellow Irishman and loves the Camino, just like myself. He has taken many photos of his times on the Camino from 2013 to 2016.

caminomyway – This was actually the first account I followed way back in 2012. Randall is author of Camino De Santiago In 20 Days. He uses his Instagram to share photos of his country Canada as well as of his time in Spain.

caminodesantiagopage – Run by pilgrim Jess Bowenn, this account has a massive 22,000 followers. It is a veritable “Best of” from the Camino. Jess offers users to message her with a photo and it will be displayed on this page.

walktosantiago –  I know little of this man’s Camino, but he has a large following. He has taken some special photos, with great use of colour.

wisepilgrimguides – The creator of the Wise Pilgrim mobile guide, however, he uses his account to take black and white portrait pictures for pilgrims on their final day into Santiago.

everystepcounts2016 – Viktor walked from Sweden to Spain (over 3000km) for a number of charities. Overall, close on €10,000 was raised after arriving in Finisterre in September. You can follow his trip here.

iperegrinos – Another account showing the best of the Way of St. James.

throughthearrows – Photos of a Spanish couple walking the Camino Norte in the middle of 2016.

Ivar Rekve – Owner of www.caminodesantiago.me and resident of Santiago. His photostream makes me want to pack my bags and move to Santiago.

pilgrimhousesdc – And finally, photos from Terra Nova Pilgrim House in Santiago. Pop in if you are around. Their website is www.pilgrimhousesantiago.com/blog.

And don’t forget you can view my photos at www.instagram.com/clearskiescamino.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMKYCByhDf5/?taken-by=clearskiescamino

Hi folks! An apology is in order for the lack of posts here. A certain wrist is making that a little difficult, but I hope to be on the mend this side of Christmas. I am able to type with the cast on however, but I hope you don’t mention that to my doctor. The words “cast” “rest” and “upright position” were mentioned by him to me when I last visited him on the 28th. I return to him on the 19th of December to hopefully have the cast removed and physio can begin after Christmas. I write this with a positive tone however. I’d love to be able to eat Christmas dinner with both hands!

However, I have been keeping myself occupied over the last month and I have a number of things in the pipeline. I plan on writing a number of articles on “the best of 2016” Camino sites. I realise that it is impossible to give a top 5 or a top 10 as everyone’s opinion is different and there will be a number of websites I will leave out. However, it’s just my opinion. I hope to cover blogs (including forums), twitter, instagram, and youtube accounts. So I have a number of weeks to work on this which is plenty of time. However, I need your opinions, and I’m sure you have plenty! If there is a website / twitter account / instagram account that you feel does a great job promoting the Camino, please comment below.

I have mentioned also in the past of Andrew Suzuki’s project “Beyond The Way“. He has created 10 amazing videos after his time on the Camino in 2014. There isn’t a day that passes that I return to his website and watch one of his videos. Everything is independently produced which is pretty impressive. However, it’s not a series that discusses the sights and cities. Andrew talks to pilgrims and we hear their personal stories. It’s not often you get that in a Camino video. Anyway, after the last episode was released (so to speak), he put a call out that he was to make a second series. An Indiegogo campaign was started with a promise of goodies once a certain amount was contributed. To cut a long story short, Andrew completed the Camino Portuguese a number of weeks ago and I received a package of goodies via email and post. It certainly picked me up while in healing mode. I’d encourage you to “like” Beyond The Way’s page on Facebook as Andrew is in the process of creating a 2nd series for his most recent Camino.

And finally, the gears are well and truly in motion for a return to Spain in 2017. More news on that in the future!

Hi everyone, just some news that happened over the last week.

• I went along to a talk given by Turlough of Donnell of the Irish Camino Society entitled “The Irish and the Camino de Santiago: 800 Years of History” as part of the Dublin History Festival. During the hour or so, Turlough talked about how Irish pilgrims made their way to Santiago through the ages, whether it be by horse or foot and more recently boat. There is also evidence of an old refugio used by medieval pilgrims in Dublin which is all news to me! I was motivated to look for more information online but I can’t seem to find it so far. I have emailed the Irish Camino Society for information on a book published by Leuvan University about the Irish and the Camino. I’d be really interested to read it. Turlough was interviewed by local radio station Near.fm about the talk on the 3rd of October. You can listen to this podcast here.
• While looking for more information about the Camino and the Irish, I found this great article published by HistoryIreland.com from 1998 entitled “The Irish Medieval Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela“. You can read that in full here. It’s very interesting from an Irish point of view.
• Who remembers writing a thesis in college? It’s one of those things we all have to do and it accounts for a large amount of your final score in your final year. I certainly remember mine..I’d rather forget it actually :). I have found a thesis on the subject of the Camino published online. The full title is “In Defence of the Realm : Mobility, Modernity and Community on the Camino de Santiago” and it’s fairly detailed. Have a read when you get some time. It was published in 2007 but may not as up to date as today.
• And finally, I am taking my new rucksack out on her maiden voyage. Hopefully I will get to climb one of the many hills in Wicklow, depending on the weather that is. The more climbs I get before my Camino Ingles, the better.