Experience WaterfordExperience Waterford

Mount Melleray Pilgrim Paths

Cappoquin

Description Did You Know Walk details

The pilgrim walking trails of Mount Melleray are steeped in tradition, collectively covering over 30kms of track in the lower hills of the Knockmealdown Mountains in scenic West Waterford. This beautiful area has been home to the Cistercian monks since they arrived here in 1832, having come from Melleray in Brittany, France. Today’s Pilgrim walking trails cross the same paths used by the monks since the 1800s with a mix of meandering boreens, forest trails and open mountain tracks.The pilgrim trails allow us to step back into the past but also to imagine the future through the timeless beauty of this landscape. Welcome to the magnificence of Mount Melleray.

How to get there

Mount Melleray Abbey Trailhead lies about 6.5kms north of Cappoquin along the R669. 4kms after Cappoquin, turn right at The Cat’s Bar onto the Melleray Road L-1024. After a further 2kms turn left shortly after The Pilgrims Rest in the direction of the Abbey itself.

Did You Know

The Cistercian Order was founded in France in 1098 and follows the rule of St. Benedict. When the monks arrived in 1832 from the monastery of Melleray in Brittany, they brought Cistercian monastic life back to Ireland after an absence of 300 years.
The Source: In 1887, Brother Vincent Stapleton and a team of workmen successfully created a permanent water supply to the monastery by directing water over a 4km route from the Rough Glen river. It is an extraordinary feat of engineering.
The Ponds: Built in 1898 the ponds were part of a system to filter and store water supplied by The Source. The system can still be seen today and consisted of a settling bed, screen house and several filter beds through which water was piped to the monastery.