Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail walk for charity

THE Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail Walking Festival is back this year after a three-year break.

The one-day festival will be held on Saturday, April 22, and the proceeds from the event will go to Croí.

The walk will be guided, with a registration fee of just €20. This will cover bus transport from Murrisk to the starting point at Aghagower, tea/coffee and a breakfast scone in the morning, a soup and sandwich lunch at Brackloon and an evening barbecue at Campbell’s pub in Murrisk.

The route stretches 20km from its beginnings at Aghagower Community Centre to Murrisk.

The trail has some of the finest landscape Ireland has to offer, especially as you approach Croagh Patrick and look down over the many islands of Clew Bay. The beautiful Atlantic oaks of the magical Brackloon Wood are also something to behold.

Walkers can also enjoy the historic Deerpark, which was built by the Normans to house the fallow deer that they brought to Ireland, and the 6000-year-old rock art engravings of the Boheh Stone.

The entire Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail is a 60km stretch, which usually takes three days to walk, and it runs from Balla to the foot of Croagh Patrick.

This year, however, the festival is are only taking on the final stretch of the walk - although that may change next year to include the entire 60km.

People are advised to book on the website https://croi.ie/croaghpatrick/, although it is possible to pay with cash in person on the day of the festival.

For more details, see https://cpht.ie/trail/index.html or you can contact the Croagh Patrick Heritage Trail at info@cpht.ie.