Kevin Considine
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2021
Many of us pilgrims were born in America or Australia or somewhere far from our ancestral homes in Europe. A fact that had depressed me a bit as my love for The Camino grew with each day since my first on the Camino when I walked over the Pyrenees from St. Jean Pied de Port(SJPP) to Roncevalles. That was 2015 and the following year I started in LePuy en Velay and continued on following the same route as before but ending in Porto, Portugal. In 2017 I started in Seville and walked the Via de la Plata and Primitivo.
In 2018 I knew that I would walk again but which one. Finally it came to me with the realization that i was one big eejit( idiot in Irish). Thinking of my Camino buddies that had walked from their homes; Falko from Berlin, Per from Sweden, and Tom from Austria, had been inspiring but also a bit saddening because walking from my home in Chicago was problematic. Well why not walk from my ancestral home in Ireland.
So May 15, 2018, I ended up setting out from Tipperary, Ireland to Santiago starting with two weeks walking through County Clare and getting to know and more importantly feel the land of my forefathers. I was welcomed into homes of some of my Irish cousins; Tommy and Lil Considine who now lived in Creegh on the farm where my grandfather Patrick was born in 1891. They provided not only a bed and food but shared family lore of years past. The same with The Scanlan’s and Hedderman’s who welcomed this pilgrim in Carrigaholt with similar Irish hospitality.
I will never forget stepping on the ferry crossing the River Shannon and slowly leaving Clare watching her in the distance as we sailed to County Kerry. Just two weeks into this Camino I knew that Clare had gotten deeply into my heart and soul. It was not only the hospitality of my many cousins, but the kindness of the Clare people, the beauty and history of the land. I had visited Clare and Ireland fairly often in the past 30 years, but that day leaving her I felt for the first time I was a “Clare Man”.
It took another 3 months to walk to Santiago and Muxia via Killarney, Inistioge, Clonegal, Dublin in Ireland. Then ferrying to Cherbourg in Normandy before walking on to Mt. St. Michel and south to St. Jean de Angely where I picked up the Camino de Tours(Paris to SJPP) to the Camino Frances.
So here I am a year later back in Clare. It did not come to me until writing these words why I chose Ireland again in between some long walks and a pilgrimage in Asia before walking another Camino from France.
Because I am a Clare Man!
The Camino teaches us that anything is possible. Walking from your home or ancestral home or country makes for a most special Pilgrimage.
Buen Camino!
In 2018 I knew that I would walk again but which one. Finally it came to me with the realization that i was one big eejit( idiot in Irish). Thinking of my Camino buddies that had walked from their homes; Falko from Berlin, Per from Sweden, and Tom from Austria, had been inspiring but also a bit saddening because walking from my home in Chicago was problematic. Well why not walk from my ancestral home in Ireland.
So May 15, 2018, I ended up setting out from Tipperary, Ireland to Santiago starting with two weeks walking through County Clare and getting to know and more importantly feel the land of my forefathers. I was welcomed into homes of some of my Irish cousins; Tommy and Lil Considine who now lived in Creegh on the farm where my grandfather Patrick was born in 1891. They provided not only a bed and food but shared family lore of years past. The same with The Scanlan’s and Hedderman’s who welcomed this pilgrim in Carrigaholt with similar Irish hospitality.
I will never forget stepping on the ferry crossing the River Shannon and slowly leaving Clare watching her in the distance as we sailed to County Kerry. Just two weeks into this Camino I knew that Clare had gotten deeply into my heart and soul. It was not only the hospitality of my many cousins, but the kindness of the Clare people, the beauty and history of the land. I had visited Clare and Ireland fairly often in the past 30 years, but that day leaving her I felt for the first time I was a “Clare Man”.
It took another 3 months to walk to Santiago and Muxia via Killarney, Inistioge, Clonegal, Dublin in Ireland. Then ferrying to Cherbourg in Normandy before walking on to Mt. St. Michel and south to St. Jean de Angely where I picked up the Camino de Tours(Paris to SJPP) to the Camino Frances.
So here I am a year later back in Clare. It did not come to me until writing these words why I chose Ireland again in between some long walks and a pilgrimage in Asia before walking another Camino from France.
Because I am a Clare Man!
The Camino teaches us that anything is possible. Walking from your home or ancestral home or country makes for a most special Pilgrimage.
Buen Camino!
Last edited: