Reek Sunday

Reek Sunday (Irish: Domhnach na Cruaiche) or Garland Sunday is an annual day of pilgrimage in Ireland. On the last Sunday in July, pilgrims climb Ireland's holiest mountain, Croagh Patrick (764 metres) in County Mayo, some in their bare feet. The pilgrimage has been held yearly for about 1,500 years. It is held in honour of Saint Patrick who, according to tradition, spent 40 days fasting on the mountain in the year 441.

Between 15,000 and 30,000 pilgrims participate, compared to an annual climbing total of more than 100,000. The Archbishop of Tuam leads the climb each year. Up to 300 personnel from eleven mountain rescue teams from across Ireland, including the local Mayo Mountain Rescue Team, for whom it is the busiest day of the year, as well as the Order of Malta, Civil Defence Ireland and members of An Garda Síochána are involved in the climb. Injuries ranging from cuts and broken bones to hypothermia and cardiac arrest occur each year. The climb takes two hours, on average, and one and a half hours to descend.

Some people even climb the mountainside barefoot, as an act of penance. Outdoor masses are held throughout the day, along with confessions at St. Patrick’s Chapel. This is one place in rural Ireland where you can meet and speak with people from around the globe.

In 1999, 25,000 pilgrims took part in the climb in ideal conditions. Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam spoke on the mountain of the improving quality of life which Ireland was experiencing in the late 1990s.

Michael Neary spoke of the fear created by banking and commerce as well as by the Church and state at a meeting with pilgrims in Westport prior to the 2002 climb. Pilgrims came from Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Rain created difficult climbing conditions on the day.

Around 20,000 people took part in 2006 during particularly bad weather of wind and rain. Archbishops Seán Brady and Michael Neary said Mass on top, with Neary appealing for kindness and goodwill to be shown to immigrant families. Twenty-three people were airlifted or stretchered off the mountain with illnesses and injuries; two of these were hospitalised. The first analytic survey was conducted when 11,000 pilgrims were interviewed. Two-thirds of them were men, one third were women, five percent came from outside Ireland, and two percent climbed in their bare feet.

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Wikipedia