Tóchar: Walking Ireland’s Ancient Pilgrim Paths, by Darach MacDonald

Darach MacDonald’s collection of essays explores Ireland’s pilgrim tradition, its physical routes and its established sites. MacDonald, a journalist and writer, describes himself as a struggling Catholic and a healthy sceptic in matters of belief. Perhaps his struggling scepticism is the reason why the book never really takes off, spiritually speaking. He is very good on the physical aspects of his journey, providing some interesting folklore and witty anecdotes about people he meets, but nothing really lifts his experiences out of the ordinary. The problem seems to be that he cannot surrender to the undertaking. He speaks of the “institutional” Catholic Church but seems oblivious to the fact that many of the pilgrimages seem much more prescriptive than, say, going to Sunday Mass: the pilgrim must walk so far; kneel so often; say so many prayers. How this translates into “spiritual” fulfilment is not, unfortunately, always apparent.