GO N-ÉIRÍ AN BÓTHAR LINN!

Wild Eala is a starting point for pilgrimages. The land lies between Glendalough (24km), a site of ancient Lughnasa celebration and of St. Kevin’s awakening, and Kildare (30km), the church of the Oak where Brigid, goddess and later saint, had her large monastery and died. Our pilgrimages focus on honouring these two sacred places and figures.

The very first impulse behind Wild Eala started on pilgrimage. When Bébhinn was 23, she followed the 800 km of the Camino de Santiago on her own and fell in love with pilgrimage. Her pilgrimage began as an experience of walking in nature and blossomed into the felt experience of walking as nature - a deep sense of presence, joy, lightness in every step. She was helped along the way by many serendipitous helpers and the wish arose to have a piece of land on a pilgrim path to support her own on-going pilgrimage and others in the art of pilgrimage.

Wild Eala is on St. Kevin’s pilgrim path to Glendalough. St. Kevin was our Irish version of St. Francis of Assis, a shining beacon who lived in communion with nature. Bébhinn became involved with the pilgrim path in 2014, when she worked with Eleanor Sutherland to hold the first Pilgrim Path Day walk along the pilgrim path. Click here to listen to a BBC radio programme about her experience of St. Kevin’s Way from Wild Eala and here to read her article on the pilgrim path that was published in Resurgence UK. For more information on participating in St. Kevin’s Way public pilgrimages, contact Stkevinsway@gmail.com, www.pilgrimpath.ie or on facebook at St. Kevin’s Way.

Wild Eala lies 30 kms from Brigid’s monastic city of Kildare. Bébhinn walked the 9 nine day Brigid’s Way pilgrimage in 2014 with Dolores Whelan and Karen Ward from Brigid’s birthplace of Faughart to her monastery in Kildare. The swan constellation in the sky was aligned to Brigid’s story from Faughart to the Curragh, 5000 years ago. The swan constellation therefore connects Brigid and Wild Eala, which lies along another alignment with the swan constellation , 5000 years ago. Bébhinn is now part of the organising community for Brigid’s Way. Click here for a short article on her experience of Brigid’s Way and go to the pilgrimage's website for more information on Brigid’s Way pilgrimage.

In Brazil, Bébhinn followed a South American cousin of the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. Thomas or the Caminho do Peabiru as it is more accurately called. It is an ancient route, sacred to the Guarani indigenous people, that stretches between the Atlantic and Pacific. To download the book recounting her experience on the pilgrimage, The Walking Flute in English or Portuguese for free, please go to the book’s website. Bébhinn’s book Love’s Last Gift, recounting the internal pilgrimage of facing the sudden loss of her husband at age 31, is available on amazon.co.uk.

Bébhinn also co-organises sacred pilgrimages around Ireland in English and Portuguese. For more information, look at Happenings on this site or contact bebhinnramsay@gmail.com