Celebrating Successful Welsh-Irish Event

Successful Welsh-Irish Event, Exploring Benefits of Pilgrimage Tourism to Business and Community

What: International Symposium on Pilgrimage, led by Ancient Connections, Wexford County Council, Pembrokeshire County Council, in collaboration with British Pilgrimage Trust and partners

Date of event: Saturday 11/12^th March 2023

Location: Riverside Park Hotel, Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Republic of Ireland

BEGINS:

Ancient Connections, an Ireland Wales culture and tourism project linking Pembrokeshire and Wexford, recently held a successful international symposium, in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, to celebrate pilgrimage and the launch of the new Wexford-Pembrokeshire Pilgrim Way; which will link Ferns in North Wexford (Ireland) with St. Davids in Pembrokeshire (Wales). The two-day event, attended by over 150 local and international delegates, was opened by Leas-Chathaoirleach of Wexford County Council, Cllr. Michael Whelan and Mike Cavanagh head of Culture, Leisure and Tourism at Pembrokeshire County Council and Chair of Ancient Connections.

The international event was designed to appeal to a wide range of people from different backgrounds: including pilgrim practitioners; local enterprises in the hospitality sector; academics and researchers; tourism specialists and policy makers, as well as local, national and inter-regional government agencies. The event was kindly supported in their attendance by various academics and educational institutions, Fáilte Ireland, Visit Wales, Visit Wexford, SETU, St. Davids Cathedral and a member of the Irish Parliament Paul Kehoe.

The symposium of speakers and delegates, including Pilgrim Paths Ireland and the British Pilgrimage Trust, addressed three key questions: how do you create a successful pilgrim route; what’s in it for all us; and is there a difference between a tourist and a pilgrim? The answers raised were diverse and wide ranging, with the key take away being that all success in this area comes from buy-in from local communities and bottom-up partnerships between stakeholders; in conjunction with strategic support from government and local authorities.

The programme began with a keynote speech given by world-renowned speaker Satish Kumar, a spiritual teacher, author and trustee of the British Pilgrimage Trust. Kumar related how he came to undertake a peace pilgrimage from India to Moscow, London, Paris, and America in 1962 and how he has subsequently devoted his life to campaigning for ecological regeneration, social justice and spiritual fulfilment. He gave an inspiring talk to a packed room of pilgrims, motivating them to undertake their own pilgrimage journey, with open hearts and minds.

An action-packed day of talks, workshops and open discussions followed, where delegates shared their ideas, experiences and hopes for the future of pilgrimage in Ireland and Wales. The project’s Creative Camino Artists performed for the attendees and a documentary film of their journey from Ferns to St. Davids, by When It Rains (Will Philpin), was screened. On the Sunday, participants walked along part of the new pilgrim route, the Wexford-Pembrokeshire Pilgrim Way, and reflected on the ideas that have emerged from the previous day’s discussions.

New connections, relationships and plans were made for further solutions of the key questions and themes, and the delegates left the event with a greater understanding of the concept of pilgrimage and sense of purpose on their own journeys.

The Ancient Connections project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland Wales co-operation programme and led by Pembrokeshire County Council, together with partners Wexford County Council, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and Visit Wexford.

The British Pilgrimage Trust, Pilgrim Paths Ireland and partners are delivering the roll-out of the new Wexford-Pembrokeshire Pilgrim Way on behalf of the project.

For further information, go to www.wexfordpembrokeshirepilgrimway.org and www.ancientconnections.org