Furthermore, the Network aims to be a recognisable network of enterprises in the Burren, who have achieved independent accreditation, demonstrate ecotourism ‘best practice’, positively discriminate in each other’s favour, provide ‘one voice’ representation on issues impacting the Burren (where appropriate), and inspire conservation activism.

The Burren Ecotourism Network and the Geopark have enjoyed a special relationship since 2008 when the Burren Connect Project first instigated the establishment of the Network. The two organisations now work in partnership, having agreed in late 2012 to pool their resources in pursuit of their common objective. Both organisations are committed to the promotion of responsible tourism that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people. Finally, they work together to promote ‘The Burren & Cliffs of Moher Geopark’ as a leading sustainable visitor destination, celebrated for high standards in visitor experience, conservation, and learning.

We join over 60 other businesses in the Burren as accredited and proud members of the Burren Ecotourism Network.

Photograph by Eamon Ward

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I am delighted to be part of the upcoming guided walk of Inis Óirr with Nordic Fitness Ireland on Sunday, September 12th.
The ferry will depart Doolin at 10am and return to Doolin at 5pm.
Booking for this event is with Nordic Walking Ireland, ring Joanne on 087 6936903 or visit their website.

When: Sunday 12th Spetember 2021
Where: Depart Doolin Pier, ferry to Inis Óírr
What: Guided Nordic Walking Tour by Pius Murray

Nordic Walking is a great way to stay fit and healthy.   All walking is a great way to improve or maintain your overall health. Just 30 minutes every day can increase cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. It can also reduce your risk of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and some cancers.  Simply add Nordic Walking poles for increased benefit.

About Nordic Fitness Ireland

Established in 2018, Nordic Fitness Ireland is based at Burkedale House in Dysert O’Dea, Corofin, Co. Clare, Ireland. Burkedale House has been the family home of the Burkes for 20 years. Tony is originally from Dublin and Joanne from Oxford. They met over 30 years ago in London. They wanted their children, Naomi & Hamish to be educated in Ireland hence the move to Clare in 2001.

When the children flew the nest and went to university in the UK, they decided to head back to the UK too. They wanted other people to enjoy the spectacular views from the house and relax in its comfortable surroundings and they opened their doors for people to stay via Airbnb.

On returning to Ireland in 2017 following retirement from a long nursing career, Joanne expanded the accommodation business with the addition of a Traditional Irish Cottage and established Nordic fitness Ireland after training as fitness walking instructor. As the numbers grew Tony joined Joanne and trained as an instructor but continued to work as an IT consultant.

During the pandemic of 2020 both worked full time on the business and have developed their new Walks for All programme.

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Having done a Zoom talk for Clare County Library and a video for Galway City Library Services, on the benefits of walking, as part of Healthy Ireland at the Library, I decided to write this article. I hope you enjoy it and are inspired to take up walking as a daily pastime.

There are numerous health benefits to body, soul and mind when you simply take a walk.

In his book ‘The Hidden Life of Trees’, Peter Wohlleben, the German forester and author, says that forest air is the epitome of healthy air because the trees have filtered the pollutants in the air as they float by so the air is cleaner under the canopy of trees. He writes that Korean scientists have been tracking older women as they walk through forests and in urban areas. The results of their study show that when walking in the forest the blood pressure, lung capacity and elasticity of the arteries of the women improved, whereas a walk in the city showed none of these changes. Other studies have shown that blood pressure calms and reduces in an oak wood. It seems that deciduous woods are best. Remember, forests produce oxygen, so a daytime walk in a forest is like taking a shower in oxygen – you breathe in clean, healthy, oxygen rich air.

In the book ‘In Praise of Walking: The New Science of How We Walk and Why It’s Good for Us’, the author Shane O’Mara, Trinity College Dublin, where he is Professor of Experimental Brain Research, says “You get old when you stop walking, you don’t stop walking because you get old”. Walking is a holistic exercise. Every aspect of walking aids every aspect of one’s being. Walking is good for the body, good for the brain and good for society at large. The health benefits of walking are well documented. Think of walking as something that repairs your brain, lowers your blood pressure, aids your digestive system, reduces inflammation and allows you to be creative and better at problem solving.

There are, what I call, hidden benefits to walking, where I use a variety of strategies which give a walk a purpose.

Strategy 1: Process Walk – Walking to Resolve a Problem.

If you have a problem you need to think about, if you need to make a decision, if you need to let go of “baggage” you have been carrying for too long, if someone has asked you for advice, then you can use one of your walks as a Process Walk to deal with the issue. Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, North Africa, the Early Christian theologian had a motto, which was “It is solved by walking”, in Latin “Solvitur ambulando”. Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th. Century German philosopher says, “Never trust a thought that didn’t come by walking”. Soren Kierkegaard, the 19th. Century Danish Existentialist philosopher had the following to say, “Every day I walk myself into a state of well being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts and I know no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it”.

Process Walk: At the start of your walk, look for a small stone with sharp corners and jagged edges and pick it up. Carry the stone in your hand, feeling the sharp edges with your fingers as you walk. The sharp stone symbolises what is sharp in your life now, the thing you need to resolve, that confounds you, irritates you, frustrates you, and holds you back. This is your focus for the duration of the walk. Near the end of the walk look out for some place that appeals to you, where you can cast away the stone. I like to toss it into water. The throwing action symbolises the casting away of the problem, the coming to a decision, and the letting go of anxieties, fears and worries.

Strategy 2: Spiritual Walk – Walking as a Meditation to Ground Yourself.

It is difficult to be grounded in modern society. The Covid-19 pandemic made 2020 an extraordinarily demanding year, in so many ways, for so many people. We live in unsettling times. The constant demands on our time and energy create stress in our lives. We are living “in our heads” for most of the time. The problem with living in our heads is that our heads, the thinking mind, the ego, can do only two things. The ego revisits the past, flooding our minds with invariably negative thoughts, such as disappointments, regrets, mistakes made, missed opportunities etc. The ego can look into the future, make plans, and create anxieties, causing us to worry about things that may never happen. The ego, our heads are never in the now, never in the moment, never fully present. Modern culture has created for many people conflict in their lives. John O’ Donohue, author, poet and philosopher of the Burren, who died on January 4th, 2008, says “We live in a society where people are exiled from themselves”. People feel a lack of connection, alienation, they feel fragmented and unanchored. People wish to be grounded. People aspire to living in harmony with themselves, their families, their communities, with planet Earth. Communities in the past lived in harmony with all aspects of their environment and in tune with the rhythm of the seasons and the circle of life. Walking provides us with an activity that may enable us to be grounded and to get us out of our heads. It is up to you, to decide to go walking.

The Buddhist tradition recommends that you just do it! No analysis! No excuses! The ego does not want you to take a walk. Why? The ego knows that when you walk you create the opportunity to get out of your head and into your body, and connect with the spirit within you. The ego, the thinking mind, cannot connect with your spirit. The ego will do everything it can to scupper your plan to take a walk. You go to the front door, ready to set off, and the ego will badger you – is it likely to rain? Is time too tight for a walk? Is the trail properly marked? Don’t listen. Take the first step, feel the earth beneath your feet, be aware of each step, one step at a time, start slowly, be present to the now.

Spiritual Walk: Select a section of your regular walk, say a 1km. stretch. For this 1 km. section, you walk in silence repeating the mantra 1, 2, 3. You say the mantra in your head, not aloud. A mantra stops you giving the left side of the brain, where the ego is located, something to think about. This allows you to walk without distraction. Inevitably some distracting thoughts will interrupt your mantra. When that happens you simply return to the mantra by saying “3” and continue repeating 1, 2, 3. The mantra matches your step as you walk i.e. 1(left),2(right),3(left), 1(right),2(left),3(right) and so on. As you walk, you get out of your head and into body. You connect with the spirit within you. At the end of the spiritual section of your walk you feel energised because you have connected with your spirit.
John O’ Donohue says: “Our bodies know that they belong. It is our minds that make our lives so homeless”.

Strategy 3: Mindful Walk –Walking brings you out into Nature.

In recent years a new branch of psychotherapy has emerged called Ecotherapy. Ecotherapists offer counselling and psychotherapy sessions in the outdoors, to their clients. So, instead of meeting their client in their rooms, they meet in a wildlife park, by the sea or in the mountains. A motto used by some ecotherapists is “Take steps towards the change you want to see in your life”, that is, start walking! Ecotherapy is based on E.O.Wilson’s Biophilia Hypothesis (1984), which simply stated is, that we as human beings have an innate instinct to connect emotionally and spiritually with nature. We are hardwired to connect with nature. Connecting with nature is a way of lifting our spirits. In January 2020, the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin were offering Biophilia Tours to visitors. In recent times we have been hearing about “Forest Bathing”, i.e. bathe yourself in natural surroundings, connect with nature and use your senses. Studies have shown that being out and about in the countryside (the green gym) or by the sea (the blue gym) reduces stress and enhances well being. Wilbert Gessler (1992) coined the phrase “therapeutic landscapes” that is, environments that help to provide a healing sense of place. Michael Viney, Irish Times nature columnist says: “There is no anti-depressant quite like a good view of the sea”. Nowadays one hears of G.P.s prescribing a “green prescription” for a patient, encouraging the patient to take up walking, swimming, cycling etc. instead of prescribing a drug. Walking brings you to places where you can use your five senses. Once you are out in nature you can listen, see, feel, smell and taste wild things. It is said that when you use your senses, the sixth sense, intuition falls into place. Seamus Heaney’s poem “Postscript”, inspired on a visit to The Flaggy Shore, where the northern edge of the Burren meets Galway Bay, the poet describes his spiritual experience, his experience of the delightful and the marvellous in nature. In the poem he is asking you to open yourself to the wonderful, in the everyday. Heaney’s spirit soars as his senses soak up all it takes to create a perfect moment.

Walking in nature brings you to a “transitional space”. When you are walking it is good sometimes to walk at a slower pace. You are conscious of every step you take, conscious of every breath, you are silent and you slowly come to stillness. You take time to look around and really see. Your walking brings you to a place where you experience the extraordinary. It brings you to what I call a “Wow” moment! It causes you to have a sharp intake of breath. You want to hold that breath, to stop time. You are in the now, in the moment and you don’t want that moment to pass. It’s as if you have walked through a portal, you have crossed a threshold into another dimension. You are not holding the experience, it is holding you. Your physical walking in nature has helped your head to calm and centre so you experience a heightened awareness. Because you are attentive, aware, present to the now, the ordinary is rendered extraordinary, delightful, marvellous, and spiritual. Mary Oliver’s poem “Snow Geese” is a perfect example of the poet’s experience of a “Wow” moment. Mary Oliver’s poetry teaches you how to pay attention. One of the poet’s best known mantras is: “To pay attention, that is our proper and endless work”.

Mindful Walk: Walking is not always about working up a sweat. Slow down. Stop. Breathe deeply. Be silent. Look around. Be aware of all living things about you on all sides. Be open to a “Wow” moment.

I will leave the last word to Rumi, the 13th. Century Persian poet, Islamic scholar and Sufi mystic:

“We’re all just walking each other home”.

About the author:
Pius Murray lives in Corofin, County Clare, a village on the southern edge of the Burren National Park. He is a retired Primary School Principal Teacher and now operates a guided walking business in the Burren and Aran Islands, Walk with Pius. He himself has been walking in the Burren since 1990, and invites visitors to explore its secret places and immerse themselves in the spirituality of this stunning, unique, karst landscape, on the Wild Atlantic Way on one of his guided walks.
www.walkwithpius.com
pius@walkwithpius.com
.

Pius Murray in The Burren, Co Clare. Photograph by Eamon Ward

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Here are a few pictures we took along our adventure.  If you would like to join me on a Guided Walk drop me a line. I would love to hear from you.

The post Guided Walk of Templecronan Loop and the Burren appeared first on Walk With Pius.

Join me on a stroll of the villages on the island of Inishmaan, walking from west to east.
Your starting point is Synge’s Chair (Cathaoir Synge) on the edge of a cliff, overlooking Gregory’s Sound (Sunda Ghriora), the channel between Inishmaan and Inishmore (Inis Mor). This was John Millington Synge’s (1871 – 1909) favourite location on the island. It has superb views of the south-east corner of Inishmore and the big seas rolling in from North America. The chair is a drystone wind shelter and was a shipwreck watch before Synge’s time.

You follow a shattered limestone path, cross a stile and step onto a narrow tarred road with high stone walls.

Keep an eye out for yellow Lady’s Bedstraw, purple Field Scabious, white Queen Anne’s Lace and tiny Irish Eyebright as you walk. Many Burren flowers are to be observed.

Soon you reach a sign for the Beehive Hut (An Clochan), built in the traditional style with corbelled stonework. The roof capstone is missing so you can view the interior from above. The beehive hut is likely to date to the Early Irish Monastic Church and was possibly a hermitage in the 6th. century. Islanders say it may have been lodgings for pilgrims long ago and so they assert, with tongue in cheek, that it’s Inishmaan’s earliest B&B !

Butterflies such as the Painted Lady and the Peacock emerge as the sun breaks through the clouds.

On returning to the road, the water tanks, constructed in 1982, which supply the island with water, can be observed below.

You continue on your journey and come to “An Dun” Restaurant and B&B. Just across the road you climb a path with a series of stiles that leads upwards to Conor’s Fort (Dun Chonchuir), the island’s most impressive monument, a chieftain’s homestead, that may date to AD100. Some renovations were carried out in 1880. The stone walls are 6m. high and 5m. wide in places. You will not resist the temptation to ascend the steps to the top of the walls to take in the breathtaking views especially to the north-west of the island towards the New Pier.

You retrace your steps back to the road and quickly arrive at Synge’s House (Teach Synge), a 300 years old whitewashed thatched cottage, where J.M. Synge, the Anglo-Irish author and playwright, and key figure in the Irish Literary Revival, stayed, every summer from 1898 to 1902. He took the themes of the plays “Riders to the Sea” , “The Playboy of the Western World” and more, from stories he heard on the Aran Islands including Inishmaan.

Shortly you arrive at the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Eaglais Naomh Muire gan Smal), Inishmaan’s Parish Church, built in 1938, using stone from a 15th. century church across the road. A baptismal font and holy water stoup from the medieval church can be seen as you enter. All the beautiful interior timber work was done by hand.
The altar was constructed by James Pearse, father of Padraig and Willie Pearse, who were executed in Kilmainham Gaol, for their participation in the 1916 Rising. Prepare to be astonished to discover that the church has magnificent stained glass windows from the studio of Harry Clarke. These include Enda & Brecan of Inishmore, Caomhan of Inisheer, John the Baptist, Madonna & Child and an amazing representation of Mary Magdalene.

Close by is the Church of the Seven Sons of the King (Teampall na Seacht Mac Ri). Very little remains of this early church.
By the south door is the Grave & Cross of Cinndeirg (Atharla Chinndeirge), the holy woman of the red hair, whose Pattern Day was celebrated in the past on August 15th. Her holy well (Tobar Chinndeirge) is in the nearby field. The sacred site used to be a popular place of pilgrimage for all of Connacht.

Your stroll nearly completed, you pass Fearbhai’s Fort (Dun Fearbhai), a smaller but similar fort to Conor’s Fort, leave the road, to follow a grassy path downhill, that leads to the Church of the Canons or the Church of Saint Gregory (Cill Cheannanach). This is the most important Christian site on Inishmaan. The little church with the traditional east window and west door is attributed to the 8th. or 9th. century. The church is surrounded by grave slabs.

Your journey on Inishmaan has ended.

There may be time for a cooling swim at the Old Pier or a coffee in the nearby cafe before you catch the ferry back to Doolin.

Surrender to what is,

Let go of what was,

Have faith in what will be.

                    – Sonia Ricotti

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Contact me if you would like to join me on a guided walk around this magical island.

The post Glorious Inishcealtra Walk appeared first on Walk With Pius.

Let your imagination carry you to the Burren, County Clare, on the Wild Atlantic Way, and join me on a guided walk along the Templecronan Loop.

This is an easy 5km. walk, on flat terrain around Carron village, County Clare.

Your starting point is Cassidy’s Pub,Carron.  Following the purple arrows of the Carron Loop, you go downhill along the road towards Bellharbour, pass the right turn, which would bring you to the magical Burren Perfumery and take the next right turn on to a narrow road towards Templecronan.

On the left, observe the grassy meadows, which contrast with the exposed limestone hills in the background. Notice that the stone walls here are smoother than the usual shattered Burren limestone walls, as the stones used to build these adjacent walls, were shaped by a glacier at the end of the last Ice Age, 15,000 years ago.

At the end of the lane, pass through a stile, turn right and now follow the green arrows of the Templecronan Loop, which will lead you through a series of stiles. (The purple arrows of the Carran Loop go left and uphill at this stile). Unexpectedly, Templecronan Church comes into view. Notice also evidence of ancient buildings and enclosures on your left. Clusters of primroses dot the meadows as you walk to the church.

Amazingly, you are visiting one of the five Early Historic Church sites in the Burren, yet the history of Templecronan is lost! Nothing precise is known of Cronan, who gives his name to the monastic site. The church is an example of 10th. century cyclopean masonry, with narrow east window and a trabeate west door, which is blocked up. The 15th. century entrance door is, unusually, inserted in the north wall. Note the numerous weathered stone heads imbedded in the outer and inner walls. To the south of the church is a tomb shrine. There is another shrine, outside the boundary wall near the east gable, which is attributed to Cronan. Pilgrims of old would approach the shrine and touch the bones of Cronan within the “ark-house” to obtain healing and blessings.

“The footprints of an elder race are here,

And memories of an old heroic time;

And shadows of an old mysterious faith

So that the place seem haunted

And strange sounds float in the wind “.

– Anon.

You leave, by the stile on the south wall and follow the track to Saint Cronan’s Well. On your immediate left is a low limestone cliff and on your right blackthorn blossoms are in bloom, whitethorn leaf buds are emerging. Yellow Lesser Celandines, white wood anemones, purple dog violets and   bunches of primroses speckle the undergrowth with colour. The twittering of birds fills the air.

Cronan’s Holy Well, a spring well with a cure for all ailments is still visited and the Pattern Day is October 19th. The small mound near the well is the remains of a “fulacht fia”, a pre-Christian cooking place. Local people say that a second well, an eyesight well, is nearby, but hidden in dense brambles.

On leaving the well you make your way along a narrow path through a marsh. Soon you join a track, which may have been an ancient road leading to Templecronan. The track is bounded by two contrasting walls, on the left a Burren drystone masonry wall and on the right a dense, solid wall built using mortar and having a semi- circular cap. It’s said that the latter was a wall for a deer park in the past. As you approach the gate and the high, narrow stile, you will hear water flowing from another spring well, which is linked to the spring at Cronan’s Well, but the water soon disappears as it meets the limestone paving. This spring well may have been an eyesight well in the past.

An extensive area of typical Burren paving opens up in front of you, with magnificent clints, deep grykes and an array of wonderful karren (karst features due to weathering by rainwater).

There is evidence of a tombstone quarry on the right, where unfinished tomb slabs are abandoned on the clints. Heaps of recently cut hazel branches and twigs indicate the landowner’s eternal battle with encroaching, invasive hazel scrub.

Exit through the stile, turn right and right again. Pass the NUIG Field Research Station on the right and a pond, Poulmoneen,on the left. If it is not flooded, follow the Old Bog Road and the Carran Turlough (polje) comes into view. In winter it is a large seasonal lake, in summer it is grassland for the herds of Burren cattle that have descended from the high winterage lands. You walk away from the turlough and return to the trailhead at Cassidy’s Pub, where you may quench your thirst after successfully completing the Templecronan Loop.

“Our bodies know that they belong. It is our minds that make our lives so homeless”

– John O’Donohue.

To book a walk with me click here.

A Burren Stroll- Templecronan Loop

The post A Burren Stroll – The Templecronan Loop. appeared first on Walk With Pius.

“Anois teacht an earraigh,

 Beidh an la dul chun sineadh…”

                         -Antaine O Raifteiri

Saint Brigid’s Cloak

Festival of Imbolc

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