After leaving Doolin, we headed up to Galway to get some badly needed gear (new shoes for Zach and rain pants for me). We originally planned to head to Achill Island that night, but decided to stay in Westport instead because Lol (our WWOOFing host) had recommended it. Good thing we stayed there because just this week The Irish Times, Ireland's most popular newspaper, voted Westport the best town to live in. Oh. Man.
While in Westport we stayed in a wonderful hostel in the center of town, hiked Croagh Patrick, one of the most famous mountains in Ireland, and watched Ireland lose their last Euro Cup match to Italy.
At just over 2,500 ft., Croagh Patrick towers over the town of Westport. It's so big and famous that most people in town just call it "The Mountain." According to legend, St. Patrick fasted for 40 days and 40 nights on top of the mountain and as a result, converted a lot of the Pagan people in Ireland to Christianity. Because of this, Ireland's highest cathedral is on top of the mountain and a few times a year, there are pilgrimages to the top of the mountain. St. Patrick is also said to have banished all snakes from Ireland while living on top of Croagh Patrick. After all of the gardening and outdoor work we've done, that's probably my favorite one of his accomplishments.
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| A view of Croagh Patrick as we were hiking. |
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| We followed the pilgrimage route on the hike up which required us to create our own trail and hike through the bog. It rained off and on during the hike, but overall it was a great day! |
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| More views from the hike - looking out onto Clew Bay. As you can tell, during this part of the day, it was sunny! |
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| Views from the top! Finally! |
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| Looking out at the Atlantic from the top of Croagh Patrick. |
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| Clew Bay. |
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| The Cathedral on top of Croagh Patrick - the highest cathedral in the country! |
What beautiful country! Great pics! thanks for sharing your adventure! Lots of love, Aunt Mary
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