Cleland Travel Planners is a small, specialized vacation planning company. Ireland, Scotland, and England are our specialties European destinations are often included as part of an itinerary.
We consider each client to have special needs and our goal is to tailor each individual itinerary to your specific interests and tastes, and doing this within your predetermined budget. A favorite new word for me is bespoke and I like to say that we plan bespoke trips, trips planned to special order.
Each month we will feature a special destination and for this month it is: Westport
Westport is located in County Mayo on the western coast. It is a beautifully planned town, built in the Georgian style in the late 1700s. The town once thrived in the linen industry, which was created by local Irish handlooms. However, the act of Union with the British in 1801 left Westport unable to compete with the industrialized British linen makers and fell into decline. The town is still beautiful, and a great place for a visit and a relaxing lunch or as a base for 2 to 3 days to visit both County Mayo and the Connemara.
From Westport it is a short drive to Croagh Patrick. This small mountain rises 2500 feet above the bay. In the fifth century, St. Patrick is said to have fasted on its summit for the forty days of Lent. It's also from here that he supposedly rang his bell driving all the serpents out of Ireland. This makes never existed, of course, but they represented the pagan beliefs that St. Patrick's newly arrived Christianity replaced.
Each year on the last Sunday of July, “Reek Sunday” (a reek is a mountain peak), 30,000 pilgrims hike three hours of the rocky trail to the summit in honor of St. Patrick. The most penitent hikers attempt to hike barefoot. On that Sunday, Mass is celebrated throughout the day and a modest chapel on the peak.