The next part of my Celtic Camino was to begin in A Coruña , a sea port in Northern Galicia and one of the two traditional starting points for the Camino Inglés or English Camino , the other being nearby Ferrol. The Camino Inglés was the first maritime route to Santiago de Compostela and a large number of pilgrims from Northern Europe took the journey to the ports of Ferrol and A Coruña between 12th and 15th centuries. From there they walked to Santiago. These ships departed from ports in the South of England such as Plymouth, Southampton and Winchelsea , hence the name the English Way.

Here is an interesting blogpost about a 15th C Irish pilgrim from Waterford , James Rice , who made a pilgrimage to Santiago in 1473 and then again in 1483. As Waterford is a port he is very likely to have travelled by boat to Coruña and from there on foot to Santiago. An English pilgrim named William Wey , a fellow of Eton College , made a Pilgrimage to Santiago in 1476, sailing from Plymouth to Coruña , and recorded his journey in a book ” The Itineries of William Wey ” , now held in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Continue reading “A Coruña” →