Louth County Council, Boyne Camino Group and Love Drogheda BID welcomed a delegation of Spanish Guests from the Galicia region last week .
The group were here to celebrate the link between Drogheda, the Boyne Valley and Galicia . In attendance was Valentín González Formoso, Presidente of the Diputación de A Coruña.
He was joined by Antonio Leira Piñeiro: A Coruña Provincial Council Manuel Miras Franqueira: President Association of Councils of the Camino Inglés Maite Loureiro Ventureira: Head of the Tourism Department of A Coruña Provincial Council and Lanzada Calatayud Álvarez: Camino Ingles Project Manager in Ireland and UK and Michelle Yalch Camino Society Ireland
Drogheda has historical links with Galicia in Spain, most notably the Celtic Camino, a 100KM walking route to Santiago de Compostella, 25KM of which is located as the Boyne Valley. The earliest recorded journey from Drogheda was 1473 when the Lord Mayor and local shipping Merchant John Fowling made the pilgrimage by ship.
In the Middle Ages, many people would have left from the North, Midlands and East of Ireland through the Port of Drogheda. They would have sailed to A Coruña and completed the 75km journey to the city of Santiago de Compostela to complete their Camino. Today this journey has been revived and Drogheda has received many visitors looking to complete the Irish section before continuing to Spain. This Celtic Camino route from A Coruña to Santiago has been approved as an official Camino in 2016, with the certification of the Boyne Valley Camino in 2019.
A further link between Galicia and Drogheda is the landing of the Milesians, Amergin and Colpha via the Boyne river over 3000 years ago, which is part of our shared mythology. The journey is believed to have originated from A Coruna in north east Spain. Colpha’s burial mound is located at Colpe in East Meath while Amergin is believed to be buried beneath Millmount in Drogheda. The delegation visited the mural of Amergin on the quays as well as the Boann mural in the Old Abbey by the Galician artist Lula Goce.
While in Drogheda, the Spanish delegation visited the Boyne Valley Camino Trailhead at St Peter’s, the Tourist Office, Laurence Gate, The Highlanes Gallery and met with Collette Moss and Thomas McEvoy of Louth County Council, TD Ged Nash, Cllr Pio Smith, Hubert Murphy, Chair of the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Chair of Drogheda United, Mark Mohan of Fáilte Ireland and Manager of Ireland’s Ancient East, other Boyne Valley Trails Walk Leaders and the Trevor and Kelly Louise from Drogheda BIDS. The sun shone, lunch in Scholars was top class, as was the music by local group Tradify, where Lanzada tried her hand playing uilleann pipes.
The two regions share many cultural elements, including Celtic Mythology, music, and trade. Dusty Flanagan and members of the Boyne Valley Camino team were delighted with the success of the visit and look forward to building stronger links between the two cities across the Celtic Seaon the Celtic Camino.
You can find further details on the Boyne Camino at https://www.boynevalleycamino.ie/
Buen Boyne Camino
