THE gruelling 3,500kms pilgrimage furrowed by one of Ireland’s patron saints is being undertaken for a modern day cycle.
Aidan Spence is replicating the trail of St Colmcille, also known as St Columba, and is due to arrive in Donegal.
He has been travelling up Ireland’s west coast and is now set to cross from Sligo towards St Colmcille’s birthplace in Gartan, near Letterkenny.
Aidan said: “I’ve wanted to visit the birthplace of St Colmcille. His influence reached far beyond Donegal.
“Following those footsteps has given the journey a much deeper meaning.”
A spokesperson for Aidan, who is from Essex in England, said: “Aidan should be in Donegal] by the end of the week.
“He is following in the footsteps of St Colmcille, whose monastery on Iona helped shape the Irish monastic tradition in which St Cedd was formed before founding the monastery at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex.
“More than 1,300 years ago, St Colmcille founded the monastery on Iona. It was from Iona that St Aidan travelled to establish the monastery at Lindisfarne.
“St Cedd was educated there under St Aidan, becoming fluent in Irish and absorbing the Irish monastic tradition before founding the monastery at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex in 654 AD.”
Members of Chelmsford Irish and St Cedd’s GAA Club wave off Aidan Aidan Spence.
He added: “Aidan set off from Rosslare and has travelled through Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Galway and Mayo.
“Aidan is making his way towards Gartan, the birthplace of St Colmcille, one of the places that inspired the entire journey.
“For Aidan, visiting Gartan will be one of the defining moments of the journey.”
Artist’s rendering of St Colmcille, from Donegal. He is credited with taming a monster in 565AD in Loch Ness, the Scottish Highlands lake, near Inverness.
Aidan’s journey, which is 3,540kms long, will raise funds to support St Cedd’s GAA Club, St Cedd’s Céilí Band, and Cúpla Focal na nGael Chelmsford.