Mount Melleray Pilgrim Paths - The Source

The pilgrim walking trails of Mount Melleray (Cosáin Chnoc Mheilearaí) are steeped in tradition, collectively covering over 30km of track in the lower hills of the Knockmealdown Mountains. This beautiful area has been home to the Cistercian Monks since they arrived here in 1832, having come from Melleray in Brittany, France.
The trails enabled the monks, the people of Melleray and others access the mountaineous areas to harvest turf, to herd sheep and to walk long distances across the mountain range.
The monks were given 600 acres of mountain land by Sir Richard Keane in 1832 and cultivated the terrain with the support of many local parishes. Today’s pilgrim walking trails cross the same paths used by the monks since the 1800’s, with a wonderful mix of meandering boreens, forest trails and open mountain traverses. The overriding symbol of peace and hope in the hills is The Holy Year Cross and it is this iconic monument that is a powerful symbol of the Cosáin Chnoc Mheilearaí.
Mount Melleray is now a leading spiritual centre in Ireland, attracting visitors from all over the world. The monks gather several times a day to pray and chant the psalms, they run a guesthouse and café and offer hospitality to walkers, pilgrims and penitents.
The pilgrim trails allow us to step back into the past but also to imagine the future through the timeless beauty of this landscape.

Annual Closure Notice: Mt Melleray Pilgrim Paths
Some of the property traversed by the Mt. Melleray Pilgrim Paths is private property. Access is available by kind permission of all the landowners/holders on the route. Persons entering do so by permission with the consent of the landowner. No matter how often they enter, or in what numbers, they do not do so as of right.
As further evidence of the permissive nature of the access, the route will be closed for one day on the third Thursday of December each year in agreement with the landowners. Nothing in this notice shall impact or address any pre-existing public rights of way.

Waymarking: Purple arrow on white background (with white cross at the centre)