From front door to Santiago de Compostela

[Former member 49149]

Irish man walking to Spain to support cancer research
(I found this in the paper this morning. I have deleted a link to a fundraising site)
An Irish pilgrim is walking more than 2,500km from his home in Co Laois to Spain to raise money for cancer research in memory of his sister.
Eamonn Culliton, who began his walk on April 4th from his home in Portlaoise to Santiago de Compostela, is documenting his trip in aid of Irish Cancer Society on social media. He estimates it will take him about three months to get to his destination. “I am currently in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain in Wales,” he said.
“It took me three days to walk from Portlaoise to Dublin, where I got the ferry to Holyhead. I walked to Bangor, passed the foot of Snowden and now I am somewhere outside Minffordd.
“This walk is in memory of my sister, Alice McCann, who passed away from cancer during the height of the pandemic. I just wanted to do something because at that time due to Covid people couldn’t go to funerals. It seemed like her life was suddenly just gone so I wanted to do something to mark it, and this is it.”
Mr Culliton, an aerospace engineer in Shannon, has taken a sabbatical and has not put a figure on how much he wants to raise.
“I have always wanted to walk the Camino. Originally it was supposed to be walked from your house to Santiago de Compostela so I said I would try and do it how it was intended to be done. It is harder but I am also meeting more people as a result. Then there are the days when you only meet one person but that is what it is all about too.”
The father-of-two has been blown away by the generosity of the people he has met along the way. He has been put up in hotels and given meals.
“It has been amazing. I have had a few hairy moments when I got lost and it was getting dark, but I have always met someone to show me the way,” he said. “I was getting a bit down on myself the other evening when I came across a farmer and his wife. The farmer had lost his first wife at 49 to cancer. My sister was only 52. You meet people who have been touched by cancer everywhere and if not, they are going to be, and it gives me the strength to keep going.”
His route will take him to England and then he will travel to France and walk from Saint de León to Biarrit and then along the Camino Way to Santiago.

 

[chinacat]

It looks as if he may be intending to walk south down the west Wales coast for some of his walk.
And also down the west coast of France.
That would be be a great route!
I wonder if he reads the forum …

 

[wayfarer]

Great article, I wonder why he choose the route he did though. It would have been shorter to walk to Rosslare and get the ferry to Roscoff and avoid the long walk through the UK which is not the traditional way.

 

[Tom Hagger]

It may be that Mr Culliton is intending to walk via Reading Abbey, where the hand of St James was once held, having been brought to England by Empress Matilda during the twelfth century. (What purports to be the same hand is now held in the Church of St Peter in Marlow.) From Reading Abbey, he could take The Way of St James, an excellent four-day Camino to Southampton, designed by the Confraternity of St James. The journey could then be continued on the Camino Inglés.

However this would probably take a lot less than three months, so perhaps he plans to walk via Canterbury Cathedral, another major pilgrimage destination following the murder of Archbishop Thomas à Becket in the twelfth century. From there, it is a superb trek to Dover and then to Vélelay on the Via Francigena, then on the Voie to Vézelay to Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port, and the Camino Francés from there. The walk from Canterbury to Santiago by this route, with a diversion to Lourdes, took me just over three months.

It would be very interesting to know which route Mr Culliton has settled upon, if any. With luck, someone will point him towards this forum, so that we could all follow his journey and wish him Buen Camino!

 

[wayfarer]

It may be that Mr Culliton is intending to walk via Reading Abbey, where the hand of St James was once held, having been brought to England by Empress Matilda during the first century. (What purports to be the same hand is now held in the Church of St Peter in Marlow.) From Reading Abbey, he could take The Way of St James, an excellent four-day Camino to Southampton, designed by the Confraternity of St James. The journey could then be continued on the Camino Inglés.

However this would probably take a lot less than three months, so perhaps he plans to walk via Canterbury Cathedral, another major pilgrimage destination following the murder of Archbishop Thomas à Becket in the 12th century. From there, it is a superb trek to Dover and then to Vélelay on the Via Francigena, then on the Voie to Vézelay to Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port, and the Camino Francés from there. The walk from Canterbury to Santiago by this route, with a diversion to Lourdes, took me just over three months.

It would be very interesting to know which route Mr Culliton has settled upon, if any. With luck, someone will point him towards this forum, so that we could all follow his journey and wish him Buen Camino!

Nope, he is going down the west coast of Wales then Devon and on to Plymouth for the ferry to Roscoff.

 

[Tom Hagger]

Nope, he is going down the west coast of Wales then Devon and on to Plymouth for the ferry to Roscoff.

Sounds good! It would be interesting to learn how he fares. Tom

 

[wayfarer]

Sounds good! It would be interesting to learn how he fares. Tom

I'll see if I can get in contact and tell him about the forum and posting his Camino.

 

[Tom Hagger]

Jolly good!

 

[NanaEL]

God be with him!

 

[chinacat]

Nope, he is going down the west coast of Wales then Devon and on to Plymouth for the ferry to Roscoff.

There used to be a ferry, in the summer months, from SW Wales to the N. Devon coast. The skipper used to live nearby. But I’m not sure it’s been running in the last 30 or so years …
But you never know ….

 

[wayfarer]

This is a YouTube link to one of his days, all the others can be found there as well.

https://youtube.com/channel/UCoka9yQBUAjDVsGO-a06YVA

 

[Former member 49149]

@wayfarer, thank you so much for taking the trouble to seek out Eamonn's plans. I look forward to catching up. Such a heartwarming project, his way of honouring the life and death of his beloved sister.

 

[Tom Hagger]

Thanks, Wayfarer. Eamonn is a wonderful example to us all. We cannot help but wish every success to him and to the charity that he is supporting.

 

[Former member 49149]

I have watched days one and two as well as the intro. (They cover the reverse, towards Dublin, of what I did the year after the Salvador. Just because it was flat!)
Eamonn, when you do find time to join the forum, welcome, and know you have gained some people, thanks to the newspaper report yesterday, you did not expect to be following you. Keep safe, and may the kindness of strangers sustain you.

 

[The_Pilgrim]

Irish man walking to Spain to support cancer research
(I found this in the paper this morning. I have deleted a link to a fundraising site)
An Irish pilgrim is walking more than 2,500km from his home in Co Laois to Spain to raise money for cancer research in memory of his sister.
Eamonn Culliton, who began his walk on April 4th from his home in Portlaoise to Santiago de Compostela, is documenting his trip in aid of Irish Cancer Society on social media. He estimates it will take him about three months to get to his destination. “I am currently in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain in Wales,” he said.
“It took me three days to walk from Portlaoise to Dublin, where I got the ferry to Holyhead. I walked to Bangor, passed the foot of Snowden and now I am somewhere outside Minffordd.
“This walk is in memory of my sister, Alice McCann, who passed away from cancer during the height of the pandemic. I just wanted to do something because at that time due to Covid people couldn’t go to funerals. It seemed like her life was suddenly just gone so I wanted to do something to mark it, and this is it.”
Mr Culliton, an aerospace engineer in Shannon, has taken a sabbatical and has not put a figure on how much he wants to raise.
“I have always wanted to walk the Camino. Originally it was supposed to be walked from your house to Santiago de Compostela so I said I would try and do it how it was intended to be done. It is harder but I am also meeting more people as a result. Then there are the days when you only meet one person but that is what it is all about too.”
The father-of-two has been blown away by the generosity of the people he has met along the way. He has been put up in hotels and given meals.
“It has been amazing. I have had a few hairy moments when I got lost and it was getting dark, but I have always met someone to show me the way,” he said. “I was getting a bit down on myself the other evening when I came across a farmer and his wife. The farmer had lost his first wife at 49 to cancer. My sister was only 52. You meet people who have been touched by cancer everywhere and if not, they are going to be, and it gives me the strength to keep going.”
His route will take him to England and then he will travel to France and walk from Saint de León to Biarrit and then along the Camino Way to Santiago.

I'm Eamonn and it was me who walked the Camino last year in aid of Cancer Research. I haven't been on here for quite sometime, Any questions please ask?

 

[Kirkie]

Hi I just saw this on the web while looking for something else. I'm Eamonn and it was me who walked the Camino last year in aid of Cancer Research. Any questions please ask?

How are you? Simple as that. I have not forgotten you, nor your sister.

 

[The_Pilgrim]

I have watched days one and two as well as the intro. (They cover the reverse, towards Dublin, of what I did the year after the Salvador. Just because it was flat!)
Eamonn, when you do find time to join the forum, welcome, and know you have gained some people, thanks to the newspaper report yesterday, you did not expect to be following you. Keep safe, and may the kindness of strangers sustain you.

I was on the forum but i let it slip since i returned. It was the adventure of a lifetime.

 

[The_Pilgrim]

How are you? Simple as that. I have not forgotten you, nor your sister.

I'm great, still hiking in the Slieve Blooms any chance I get. I joined the society of the Camino since I returned. How are you?

 

[Kirkie]

I have watched days one and two as well as the intro. (They cover the reverse, towards Dublin, of what I did the year after the Salvador. Just because it was flat!)
Eamonn, when you do find time to join the forum, welcome, and know you have gained some people, thanks to the newspaper report yesterday, you did not expect to be following you. Keep safe, and may the kindness of strangers sustain you.

I did the Barrow Way for the same reason!