Bishop of Killaloe Fintan Monahan will lead a Camino of Hope walk through the northern part of Scariff parish during the upcoming annual Scariff Harbour Festival.
The 10km walk will begin at the Market House in the centre of town on August 2nd at 11.45 and head out the Flagmount road to the mass rock in Cappabane, on the lower uplands of Slieve Aughty mountains.
The celebration of mass at the historic site in Cappabane has over the years been a widely accepted part of the festival programme. The ever-active local community has taken it a step further this year. ‘The idea of a Camino of Hope walk was born out of conversations within our parish community to help focus on life’s modern-day struggles and make a tangible link with the heritage and tradition of those oppressed years of Penal Laws in Ireland,’ said Scariff Parish Priest, Fr. Pat Larkin. ‘
Bishop Monahan will be welcomed at the start of the walk in the centre of Scariff and a number of ‘pause’ moments along the route are planned, during which guided reflections will be shared to help ponder and connect with people’s own life story and those of the people who have gone before them centuries ago. ‘A warm welcome is extended to locals and visitors to join the walk, share the journey and support each other as people of hope,’ said Fr. Larkin.
The practice of Catholicism was outlawed and heavily suppressed during the years of the Penal Laws, designed to secure Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. The mass rock in Cappabane was one of hundreds of makeshift altars in Ireland, often located in isolated overgrown hillsides, where mass was held in secret.
Despite the dangers, locals trudged through heather, bracken and bogland in hushed voices to express their faith, while sentries kept a watchful eye for threats on their priests. It was a difficult period in Irish history that left an indelible mark on the resolve of rural people and their commitment to faith.
The Camino of Hope is not, however, the only significant walk scheduled over the festival weekend. A 3km Historical Walk will highlight the verifiable importance of Scairbh, ‘the rough crossing place’ from which Scariff gets its name and the early settlements and strategic location along the Graney River. It will include the story of Lahiff’s forge, where generations of the Lahiff family were blacksmiths, stretching back to the 1600s and boosted in the mid 1800s by the construction of the Workhouse.
The walking tour will re-visit the workhouse, re-imagine old schooldays where the first national schools were located at the site of the Bank of Ireland and move up Bridge St to Jacko’s Bar established in 1852, where many were likely to have had their last drink before emigrating. The tour will finish at the Church of the Sacred Heart with a visit to the grave of the Scariff Martyrs, who were shot on the bridge of Killaloe in 1920.
Still in the realm of local history, Behind the Counter is a lecture that will be given by local history lecturer and genealogist, Dr. Jane Halloran-Ryan at Scariff Library. It will include the story of Scariff village and its shopkeepers from the late 19th to mid 20th century, focusing on the types of shops, economic and social influences and the role of the shopkeeper in the community.
Previous Coverage
July 5th – Irish Council of State Member to Open Scariff Harbour Festival
June 29th – Don Stiffe & friends to launch Scariff Harbour Festival 2026