Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
• Across the road from the coffin ship is...
This small mountain rises 2,500 feet above the bay. In the fifth century, St. Patrick is said
to have fasted on its summit for the 40 days of Lent. It's from here that he supposedly rang
his bell, driving all the snakes out of Ireland. The snakes never existed, of course, but they
represent the pagan beliefs that Patrick's newly arrived Christianity replaced. Every year
on the last Sunday of July, “Reek Sunday” (a “reek” is a mountain peak), 30,000 pilgrims
hike three hours up the rocky trail to the summit in honor of St. Patrick. The most penitent
attempt the hike barefoot (and often come down on a stretcher). On that Sunday, Mass is
celebrated throughout the day in a modest chapel on the top.
Hikers should allow three hours to reach the top and two hours to get back down (bring
plentyofwater,sunscreen,andraingear).ThereisaprimitiveWConthesummit,30yards
below the chapel. The trail is easy to follow, but the upper half of the mountain is a steep
slope ofloose, shifting scree that can bang orturn exposed ankles. Both times I've climbed
this, I've been glad I wore boots.
