Guardians of Croagh Patrick bring new ideas to protecting beauty of Mayo’s holy mountain

Climbing Croagh Patrick may be a once-in-a-lifetime achievement for many, but for a core team of five, it’s their job to scale 764m (2,507ft) to the summit each day to make the pilgrim path safer for the 100,000 people who make the trek each year.

Matt McConway and his team have been climbing to the summit of the Co Mayo mountain since December 2020 to hand-make 600m (1,969ft) of stone paths to improve safety, stop erosion and encourage vegetation regrowth.

This Sunday is Reek Sunday, when traditionally up to 10,000 people will climb the holy mountain, some in bare feet, in a pilgrimage to St Patrick who, tradition holds, spent 40 days fasting there in the fifth century.

However, the constant influx of people has contributed to erosion, as they trample vegetation to avoid injury from the slippery scree.

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The Sustainable Access and Habitat Restoration Project, supported by Government funding, is intended to mitigate the harm.

Project manager and Scottish footpath contractor Mr McConway began constructing a new safer, sustainable and designated path for pilgrims with four other staffers and volunteers from Mountaineering Ireland.

“When we started, the path was dangerous in places and the eroded sheer scree slope had made the ground uneven but now we can see that some of the vegetation has already started growing back down the hill,” Mr McConway said.

“We construct all the paths by hand, using materials found on the hill. It’s like building a dry stone wall except we are building it into the ground with platforms that people can walk on.”

But the presence of a safety team shouldn’t give climbers a sense of complacency. “The safer path still definitely doesn’t diminish from the challenge and I don’t think people would want it to be less of a personal test for them.”

Climbers with long links to the mountain are also doing their part to improve the experience.

Louise Killeen, a Castlebar native and cancer survivor whose fundraising activities for local cancer charities have included a a record-breaking bra chain and a line of 600 people in pink reaching the summit, is part of the Croagh Patrick Ambassador Programme, established in 2022. It aims to keep the mountain pristine.

“We are a group from all different walks of life who have experience of the mountain,” she said. “Our aim is to raise awareness of the Leave No Trace principles for the thousands of people who climb this special mountain and experience its thousands of years of heritage. Basically, we ask people not to take anything from the mountain and not to leave anything behind, particularly rubbish.”

The ambassadors have set up a rota with two of them usually available to meet visitors on the mountain each weekend.

“Part of our job is to engage with as many people as we can. It is so interesting. Everyone we meet has an intention as they climb the mountain. It may be religious, it may be spiritual, it may be seeking a personal best, or in the case of the many Travellers who climb it, it may be a deep part of their culture.”

Some visitors she sees are running up and down the mountain multiple times day.

“That’s a very different kind of pilgrimage from the man who comes from Tuam every Sunday morning at 6am and always gathers a bag of rubbish,” Ms Killeen says.