Way of Saint Columbanus

[Madrood]

Hi all

I came across this route yesterday, thought it might be of interest. It follows in the footsteps of St Columban, an Irish missionary who founded several monasteries in the several places in Europe close to the Alps, ending in Bobbio in Northern Italy where he is buried.



It's a bit of a jumble but the breakdown seems to be:
a) First journey (blue) from St Malo in Bretagne across N France to Luxeuil, a monastery just west of the Alsace.
b) From Luxieul across to the Loire, following it to Nantes
c) From Nantes again across N France, this time to Metz where the Moselle is followed to the Rhein, following that river to the Swiss border
d) From this point to Bregenz, via St Gall
e) Bregenz to Bobbio

I'm guessing by the relevance of rivers that much of this was done by boat, perhaps contributing along with the general waywardness as to why this didn't become a pilgrimage route to follow. Nevertheless, there does seem to be some modern interest in condensing this into a camino. This website (in French) has concatenated the route into a single coherent path:

At least one pilgrim associated with this website seems to have done at least some it. Elsewhere, this website (in English and Italian) has mapped the full journey into stages and I think gpx files (not tech savvy enough to download them). Don't know if there are any first hand accounts though.

 

[Madrood]

A few observations on the routes:

1) If you started from Ireland, you could simplify the route by skipping England and sailing directly from Rosslare to either Cherbourg or Roscoff in France. The latter would allow you to walk the top half of the Tro Breizh and/or the coast walk of GR34.

2) The northern route seems to be an amalgam of medieval French sites of interest; I think Domremy is where Joan of Arc was from, no reason why Columbanus would have gone there.

3) The Moselle and Rhein sections follow well established scenic hiking routes. After Mainz, while the map follows the river a walker might instead follow European Long Distance Walking Route 1, which runs parallel about 30km east. Better infrastructure and accommodation options, and probably more scenic too since it passes through the Black Forest.

4) E1 also passes through Switzerland and Northern Italy.

5) There is a GR route (4?) that follows the Loire, might be a decent alternative.

If I had to shrink this route to as little as possible, Luxeiul-Bregenz-Bobbio would probably be the most important Columbanus related sites.

 

[mspath]

Madrood,

Since I live in France on the Marne River it is intriguing to see that much of St Columban's early route was nearby ie Meaux, Reims, Notre Dame de l'Epine.
Thank you for posting info/links and comments re St Columban.

 

[timr]

@Madrood Thanks for this which is most interesting.
Right at the end, Danilo Parisi, the famed ferryman of the Po river can bring you across the Po in his boat as he does for pilgrim on the Via Francigena. He will tell you tales of people he brought who were making their way to Bobbio.

This is a clip from the BBC Pilgrimage series.

 

[roving_rufus]

There has been an aspiration to develop this route for many years as Columban(us) is seen as this key European figure. But it seems slow progress in making it an actual reality, partly because it covers decades of a man's life, including criss-crossing France.
I live close to the most westerly point at Cleenish. And much of the Irish route would be road walking. As for France, I reckon there could be options using other GR and pilgrimage routes to create something more feasible to hit the more key sites such as Mont St Michel routes, Via Liguria etc.

I remember reading an account going back a good few years ago that I can't find now, but he ended up hitchhiking a fair amount

 

[Paul Young]

This website has information about the route including details of a couple following the way by train http://friendsofcolumbanusbangor.co.uk/from-bangor-to-bobbio-saint-columbanus/

 

[Mournes]

This website has information about the route including details of a couple following the way by train http://friendsofcolumbanusbangor.co.uk/from-bangor-to-bobbio-saint-columbanus/
[/QUOTE
Bangor Co.Down is 10 miles from, where I live,Belfast.There is a beautiful coastal walk from a small town called Holywood to Bangor.
Columbanus left from Smelt Mill Bay,on .the coastal path,which leads to Bangor .
There is an information board on this spot depicting the monks leaving in their rowing boat with a Map detailing their journey.One of the places they landed at was Bregenz in Austria which is today twinned with Bangor.
Columbanus lived in Bangor Abbey and there are guided tours of the Abbey in the tourist season.
The coastal path is beautiful ,especially in the Spring when there are lots of bluebells.Weather permitting you can enjoy a swim in Helen's Bay ,a pretty village on the coast.
The train from Belfast to Bangor follows the coastline with access to the coastal path at several stops along the way.
Hope you have the opportunity to walk this path it's not to be missed.

 

[Mournes]

Some photos.

 

[Mournes]

Coastal Path

 

[Mournes]

Collage

 

[Paul Young]

Collage

Thanks for the photos, Mournes. Perhaps one day I can do the walk in Ireland.

 

[Madrood]

@Madrood Thanks for this which is most interesting.
Right at the end, Danilo Parisi, the famed ferryman of the Po river can bring you across the Po in his boat as he does for pilgrim on the Via Francigena. He will tell you tales of people he brought who were making their way to Bobbio.

This is a clip from the BBC Pilgrimage series.

Turns out there is a variant of the VF which goes through Bobbio called the Via Degli Abati. It has it's own website, the route appears to diverge from the VF at Pavia and rejoin it in Pontremoli.

 

[Madrood]

A few more websites to add, aside from the VDA one mentioned above.

This one hosts some more information, as well as an interactive map where routes can be found.

This one is the Swiss branch of the same community (I think).

I have to say there seems to be a lot of organisation going on for what I presume is a very lightly traveled route.

 

[donjohannes]

Hi there ... in case people are looking for the Columban Way in 2025.

I have walked the entire way from Mt Leinster, Ireland to Bobbio Italy in 2022. I don't know how much it has changed in the last 2 years but at that time, the route from the gpx had (obviously) not been walked in its entirety and the route been planned on (partially) outdated maps (especially in France). This showed itself in being sent down paths that did not exist (old logging roads from 50 years ago maybe). This being said, it added to the adventure and the website with its info on churches and sites was brilliant.

Here a short notes on the countries:

Ireland:
The marked sections to Carlow and in the North along St. Patrick's Way were great. Otherwise there was a lot of asphalt. I also did not understand why Cleenish was left by the wayside. It was an important stage in the life of Columban and so I detoured to include it.

England:
The Saints Way is marked and fine but short. I added 700 km because I saw no "pilgrim-type-mode" to get to Padstow from Ireland otherwise. So I went from Belfast to Liverpool and then followed the Offa'S Dyke Path and connected to the English Coast Path (SWCP) to the Saints Way and back on the SWCP to the ferry in Plymouth. That made for the most spectecular walking of the entire trip - scenery wise. Plus the Public Footpath System in the UK is beyond compare.

France:
France was a mixed bag walking wise. Of course there is much to see on a 3700 km loop through the country, but I had to improvise a few times a week because the path was "imaginary". There is a lot of walking along rivers and canals though, which was pleasant and easy.

Luxembourg/Germany:
A lot of asphalt but few difficulties. The Mosel wine region is gorgeous and the Middle Rhine is full of castles and nice scenery.

Switzerland/Austria/Liechtenstein
Again a lot of asphalt, but also crossing the Alps (which was nice and accomplished before the snow with only hours to spare) is of course beautiful

Italy
marked trail from the boarder, but GPS necessary to not get lost in the cities. That said the Columban Friends are very active and walk their section of the path.

If you want to get a feel for the journey I leave you with an excerpt of my diary (the entire section through Ireland - translated from German)