Ireland has its own camino — St Patrick’s Way: The Pilgrim Walk — that stretches 132km from Armagh to Downpatrick, and which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary. It might not be as well known as its European cousins but it can offer everything the continental walks provide: spectacular scenery, camaraderie, history, solitude, exercise, and the inspiration that nature provides. And, as I discovered recently, there are excellent guest houses and hotels along the way, plus top restaurants to give power to those legs. The whole trail would take an experienced hiker six or seven days, but a beginner might try different sections for a day or two to see how they fare. St Patrick’s Way links the two towns on the island of Ireland most associated with the saint: Armagh, the diocesan capital of both the Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, with two cathedrals in his name; and Downpatrick, where Patrick began his ministry in AD432, and where he is buried. A keen walker and adventurer, the late Alan Graham came up with the idea for an Irish pilgrimage trail while lying in a bunkbed doing the Camino de Santiago in Spain. “St Patrick’s Way is a walk of many colours, feelings and memories to cherish. It is ideal for those who want to have the experience of nature and time to themselves,” he said after establishing the trail. Walkers can get a “passport” from tourist offices along the way, which they stamp at 10 different locations for a certificate on completion. The trail is conveniently divided into sections with day one stretching just 5km — there is a lot to see! — from Navan Fort, the ancient seat of kings, to Armagh. The prehistoric fort was a place of religious ceremony dating back to pagan times. In use since 5,500BC, a giant temple was built here in 95BC. It later played a part in Ireland’s conversion to Christianity, with St Patrick preaching in the area. Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland, visited in 1005. The Georgian city of Armagh can take a full day to explore. Top of the list are the cathedrals facing each other across a valley. It is the only city in the world with two cathedrals dedicated to the same saint. St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral is on a site where the saint built his first stone church in 445. It is a beautiful building and has a series of wonderful gardens, ideal for relaxing on a sunny day. Not quite so peaceful is a sculpture of the severed head of Brian Boru, who was buried in the cathedral after he was beheaded following the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The more modern Catholic cathedral, which can be seen from miles away, was built between 1840 and 1904 and has two giant 63m spires. Not to be missed on any tour of the city is the Robinson Library, founded in 1771 and the oldest in Northern Ireland. Its 46,000 books are stored from floor to ceiling in the elegant Long Room. Medieval manuscripts are on display and you can see Jonathan Swift’s own copy of his 1726 opus, Gulliver’s Travels, with handwritten notes on the side. The Dublin-born writer and satirist was a regular visitor to Armagh. The library’s sister museum, No 5 Vicar’s Hill, has prints, coins, and Christian artefacts. Right in the heart of the city is the Mall, a huge green area big enough for a cricket pitch, where matches regularly take place. It is here that Bill Clinton, the first US president to visit the city, addressed the crowd in September 1998 at A Gathering for Peace. At one end of the Mall is a statue of a little girl with a bucket and spade, a poignant memorial to the worst railway disaster in Irish history. A packed train from Armagh to Warrenpoint crashed killing 89 people, many of them children, on a Methodist Sunday school outing to the seaside on June 12, 1889. Walkers unable to tackle the next, lengthy section of St Patrick’s Way, a 33km trek from Armagh to Scarva, will find day three much easier. The 20km route from Scarva to Newry, following the Newry Canal towpath, is flat and easy to follow and took me five hours. The 14-lock canal opened in 1742, connecting Portadown and Newry, and is the oldest in Ireland and Britain. It closed in the 1940s. The path passes through peaceful woods and rolling farmland. The next 15km section, Newry to Rostrevor, was more tricky but even more rewarding. It begins with a non-stop climb out of Newry, before crossing numerous hills, bypassing Greenan and Milltown Loughs. Soon after, you get the first glimpse of the sea in the far distance — and the views are stunning. The walk down to Rostrevor is spectacular. A word of warning: there is a lack of trail signposts on the mountain lanes and you must rely on the Ordnance Survey maps in the St Patrick’s Way booklet. People used to the ubiquitous yellow arrows and shell signs of the Spanish caminos will be disappointed. I didn’t meet any other hikers on this five-hour trail so you can’t ask directions. Rostrevor is picture postcard pretty and has changed little in the last century. It was made famous by CS Lewis, who spent holidays here as a child, and used the scenery to inspire the fictional landscapes of The Chronicles of Narnia books, which have sold over 100m copies. He wrote: “That part of Rostrevor which overlooks Carlingford Lough is my idea of Narnia.” Kilbroney Park on the edge of town has a Narnia loop walk, hiking routes and award-winning mountain bike trails. The next section of St Patrick’s Way is for experienced hikers. It’s a 38km route from Rostrevor to Newcastle, through the Mourne Mountains and takes two to three days. You can also do it on electric bike with Bike the Mournes. It starts off with a forest trail, following parts of the Ulster Way and Mourne Way. You will cross the foothills of the mountains on spectacular terrain, passing Spelga Dam, Slievnamuck, Meelbeg, and Bearnagh, before crossing the Tollymore Forest Park into the seaside town of Newcastle. It was my first visit to the County Down town and I was blown away by its incredible setting at the foot of Slieve Donard, the highest mountain in Northern Ireland. This was the view that inspired Percy French, when he wrote The Mountains of Mourne lyric, “Where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.” The town has a lovely prom and lots of bars and restaurants. The next day saw me walking along the beach, past the impressive Slieve Donard Hotel and the famous Royal County Down Golf Club, which has hosted the Irish Open. St Patrick’s Way follows Lecale Way for a few kilometres through the extensive sand dunes of Murlough Nature Reserve to Dundrum and then on to Tyrella. The last day takes you 16km from Tyrella to Downpatrick, and there is no better place to end St Patrick’s camino than at the cathedral where he’s buried and the St Patrick’s Centre just below. Here, you get the full history of Ireland’s patron saint through his own words and a multimedia exhibition. Where to stay along St Patrick’s Way? The gorgeous five-star Blackwell House in Scarva has five rooms, and the friendly hosts Edele and Alessio provided a five course taster menu. In Newry, the four-star Canal Court Hotel has a large pool, spa, sauna, and steam room, to relieve those aching muscles and we loved our large suite. The Avoca Hotel in Newcastle is modern and stylish, right on the seafront. There was a great view from my funky bedroom. Denvirs Coaching Inn in Downpatrick, dating from 1642, is steeped in history. Daniel O’Connell spoke to an ecstatic crowd from an upstairs window at the time of Catholic emancipation in 1829. This Grade A listed building is the oldest coaching inn in Ireland and has a 17th century open fireplace in the restaurant. The atmosphere in its corridors is almost palpable. Jim was a guest of Discover Northern Ireland.