Camino adventure... 'To achieve something you had been wanting to do for so long is really fantastic

A Wilkinstown woman who trekked 100km over six days through Northwestern Spain in memory of her late father who passed away from cancer says the experience was "life changing."

Shirley O’Neill took on the arduous challenge of completing the Sarria to Santiago Camino taking in the last 100km of the Camino Frances to raise funds for Nobber Cancer Support Care.

Determined Shirley took part in the pilgrimage in honour of her father, former Fine Gael councillor and peace commissioner Patsy O'Neill who passed away after a brave battle with prostate cancer in 2022.

Following another family member also diagnosed with cancer recently, Shirley wanted to do something to raise awareness of the disease and also of the vital work of Nobber Cancer Support Group who provide free transport for cancer patients accessing treatment. €850 was raised for the charity from Shirley's efforts that will go to families affected by the illness.

The pilgrimage, which lasted from 29th August to September 3rd began in Sarria and moved on to the famous market towns of Portomarin, Melide and Arzua and finished up in Santiago de Compostela, the capital of northwest Spain’s Galicia region.

The avid Wilkinstown walker says that the Camino, a trip that was on her bucket list for years was the adventure of a life time and she even has a tattoo to prove it!

So inspired by the experience Shirley is now hoping to garner interest in starting a local Camino event on the Lakelands to Boyne Valley Greenway.

“It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life,” said Shirley.

“The people I met, the places I saw, it’s hard to put it into words,” she added.

Shirley travelled with a group of 90 other pilgrims and says the friendships she made during the trip are something she will always treasure.

"It's not a race, you do it at your own pace, you get up every morning, you’ll do more walking today and you’ll do less tomorrow. I met so many along the way who lost loved ones to cancer and everybody was in the same boat and had their own life stories as to why they wanted to do it,” she said.

"You’re walking and getting to know them very fast because you’re walking with them for six or seven hours,” added Shirley.

"I wanted to raise awareness for Nobber Cancer Support and help my own head space as well and deal with the grief and dealing with another family member diagnosed with the illness."

Walking through Galicia, known as the Celtic corner of Spain was a spiritual experience as much as a physical one according to Shirley who said:

"It was Northwestern Spain and the terrain was very like Ireland, very green, you are walking through the countryside and forests and even through people’s farm yards.

“We walked around 16km to 24km each day.

"It was so unspoiled and in certain areas you were just surrounded by sweetcorn fields, it was just beautiful scenery and so wonderful to have nature all around you.

“We got a chance to see the real authentic Spanish countryside.

"The people were so friendly and there were many poor areas as well where the communities rely on the Camino pilgrimages coming to their towns and villages and spending money.

“Everything was so reasonably priced too and you’d never spend more than 30 per day and that includes all of your meals."

Shirley says coming to the finish line in Santiago de Compostela was a poignant experience.

“As we were going through the archway to the big square leading to the cathedral in Santiago, a musician who plays there started singing Amazing Grace and he didn’t know we were Irish and it was such an emotional moment,” said the mum of two.

“To achieve something you had been wanting to do for so long is really fantastic.

“I hadn’t a blister, I couldn’t believe it, I definitely felt like it was meant to be.”

The Wilkinstown woman says she felt like her late father was with her “every step of the way.”

“I brought photographs of him in my bag and a vintage mini because he had such a passion for vintage cars,” said Shirley.

“I thought about him a lot on my journey,” she added.

So moved by the experience of the Camino, the pilgrim got a memento from the trip that will literally last a lifetime, her first ever tattoo.

"I would never have got it done at home but when you are over there you are looking for ways to remember the trip so about ten of us in the group got tattoos done and mine is an imperfect shell representing losing someone in the family and the other half is the unit that you still have."

The Wilkinstown woman is now hoping to gain interest in organising a Camino closer to home on the Boyne Valley to Lakelands Greenway and hopes to encourage others to get out in the fresh air.

"Only for the walking, I don’t know how I would have coped having another family member diagnosed with cancer and losing daddy to it,” said Shirley

"I’d love to organise one for Spring of next year and involve the local community,” she added.

"I started off walking 5km for a few weeks, then I did 7km or 8km and then I did 10km and gradually worked it up.

“Nobber was the first section of the greenway I always walked and where my absolute love of walking began.

"When I came home from Spain, I went and did the local one to finish off the whole journey, the 30km from Navan to Kingscourt and I just thought couldn’t we do something like a Camino at home?

"I feel with the local greenway, we have the facilities there. We have Doughty’s Coffee Shop and we have Nobber and Kilmainhamwood along the way and I think it would be brilliant for people for their own health and well being to get out walking."

Shirley is no stranger to fundraisers and last year celebrated what would have been her father's 80th birthday by creating an event to bring the community together and remember the popular local businessman while also raising funds for a charity close to their hearts.

Over 300 people took part in "In Memory of Patsy" a 5km walk around the village followed by music from country singer Matt Leavy in Wilkinstown Community Centre. The event raised over €5,000 for Louth Meath Autism Support, a service that is a lifeline for Shirley's son, Robbie, who had "a special bond" with his grandfather.

Wilkinstown NS and O'Carolan College in Nobber also benefited from the event.

Patsy O'Neill was a long serving Fine Gael councillor, and was a public representative in the Navan area from 1979 until 2009 and proprietor of O’Neill’s Garage in Wilkinstown.

"My son Robbie attends the Louth Meath Autism Support Groups and Dad was a fantastic grandfather, he loved Robbie, the fact that he had autism made no difference," said Shirley.

Patsy was dedicated to the community in Wilkinstown, helping generations of families with an array of issues according to the proud daughter who said:

"Daddy was a man of few words, he just worked away in the background, he was a Fine Gael councillor for 30 years and he loved the community, he loved Wilkinstown. He grew up in it and worked in it all of his life.

Patsy was a life long car lover as Shirley explains:

"Celtic Owners Vehicle Club based in Kells that Daddy was involved in arrived with their vintage cars. He gave us the love of vintage cars and going for a spin on a Sunday was always a big thing for us.

"He worked from a young age, first in a bicycle repair shop and he progressed to the cars and the garage and granny would have had the shop in Wilkinstown. From eighteen he worked as a chauffeur driving people to weddings. Then he progressed to the Opel dealership. He never used a phone or a sat nav in his life, he just always knew what way to go!

The Wilkinstown man joined Meath County Council in 1979 and spent 30 years serving the local community.

"He helped people with any issues they had, be it planning permission or getting the roads repaired.

"He was always going to council meetings and people coming and going from the house was a part of our lives."