A prominent west of Ireland priest has warned that Croagh Patrick is
becoming a victim of its own success and that the path up to the summit
needs to be protected.
Fr Michael MacGreil said he is now “very worried” about the state of
the path, because of the volume of pilgrims, tourists and hill-walkers
who climb it.
He said the growing number of climbers of the mountain is
now cutting into the mountain and their heels are digging into the
shale on the path.
This, combined with the erosion effects of weathering, he warned,
meant that something has to be done to preserve the path and secure the
future of the Reek.
“It is not like when pilgrims went up in their bare feet – they
didn’t damage the path,” he said.
“If we don’t do something about
Croagh Patrick it won’t be there in the future.”
Fr MacGreil was addressing the annual general meeting of the Western Tourism Organisation.
A former sociology lecturer at Maynooth, he is the author of a
tourism survey on Westport and a campaigner for the re-opening of rail
links in the west of Ireland.
Fr MacGreil told the WTO that they should
focus on domestic tourism because “holidaying at home is the patriotic
thing to do” and said that if people spent their holidays at home, they
are “supporting Ireland.”
In recent years, the number of people climbing Croagh Patrick on Reek Sunday each summer alone is 25,000.
Fr MacGreil’s warning follows remarks last year by Mayo Mountain
Rescue chief Colm Byrne who said that injuries to climbers of the
mountain are increasing due to erosion and called for safety maintenance
to be carried out on the main path to the top.
Meanwhile, an international hill walking tour operator, Hoofbeats
International, recently told its customers travelling to the west of
Ireland “you do not ascend to the summit of Croagh Patrick Mountain
owing to the steepness and erosion of the track near the top which is
considered unsuitable.”