In the Spring of 2017, following a tender process, the Stakeholder Group appointed Walking the Talk, a UK based Consultancy firm with substantial experience in upland path repair and management in Scotland and Ireland to report on the path condition on Croagh Patrick and formulate proposals for its repair and management.  Mr. Chris York was the Principal of the firm engaged in this project.

Mr. York met with the Stakeholder Group through the field study and preliminary design stages and delivered a Condition Study and Recommendations Report in May 2017. In the report he highlighted some important considerations:

He advised that there were feasible path development/repair solutions for the lower levels of the mountain using materials from the site together with some slope stabilisation interventions.

There are some aspects that are of particular importance for Croagh Patrick, given its prominence as a cultural icon as well as its popularity as a recreational destination, to provide a high-quality experience for all visitors to the mountain.

The path needs to fit with its natural environment and the landscape – this includes using materials found on site or importing the same rock types from nearby.

The style of the path, including its width and route selection, need to encourage people to stay on the path rather than wander on their own route.

The path needs to be wide enough to allow people to pass in opposite directions without needing to leave the path. The width can vary along its length.

Excessive lengths of stone pitching should be avoided 

The objective of any works should be to help restore the mountain to a more natural state that can be managed in the long term rather than to encourage more visitors, improve safety or make it easier to climb.

Path repairs and landscape restoration need to be part of a visitor management approach – if people do not understand how they impact on the mountain it will be impossible to prevent damage from recurring.

Path development/repair together with visitor management rather than closing off access for extended periods of time represents the best approach for improving the condition of the mountain. 

He advised that the Summit Cone however posed a number of quite unique challenges which made it difficult to specify a solution that will fit into the landscape and which will succeed in keeping the visitors on the path. These include:

Extensive damage zone spreading quickly

Visitor numbers in excess of 100,000 unsustainable in current condition

Very steep gradients of over 35 degrees 

Extensive mobile scree surface 

Lack of suitable block stone of sufficient size on the mountain to build a stone pitch path

Quantity, cost and availability of large quartzite boulders if they were to be imported to the summit

Health & Safety concerns around logistics of path building on gradient of the summit text goes here

The Stakeholder Group agreed to allocate additional expertise in the area of slope stabilisation and civil engineering to the technical team already in place and an additional time period towards investigating comprehensively possible physical solutions for the cone summit.

This resulted in a three-day workshop event being held in November 2017, attended by leading consultants and practitioners in upland path design, construction and maintenance in Scotland the English Lake District and Ireland. 

The outcome of the workshop was agreement in relation to a path type and construction methodology. However, given the need to develop a unique solution for Croagh Patrick it was agreed that there would be significant benefit to working on a short section of path to test the implementation model, construction method and style of pitching. It provided an opportunity to demonstrate the bespoke methods, better understand the labour inputs and the suitability and quantities of onsite materials. 

Following a tender process, The Stakeholders Group appointed Matt Mc Conway, an upland path contractor from Scotland to carry out two weeks of path work to test the implementation model, construction method and style of pitching. This work was carried out in October 2018 in conjunction with GMIT Mayo Campus; South West Mayo Development staff and RSS workers; Mountaineering Ireland; Mayo Mountain Rescue and other volunteers who assisted with the physical creation of the path work. 40m of path work were completed on the Summit together with an additional piece (20m) at a lower level of the mountain.

In November 2018 a workshop, led by Chris York of Walking the Talk, was held to evaluate the trial path work and make a recommendation to the Stakeholders Group. 

Constructed over two weeks, in two locations along the traditional summit path and at a lower level above the access gate to the mountain, the trial path of stone pitching was two meters wide, consisting of steps and platforms, using stone and material from the mountain.  The objective of the trial path work was to establish if the proposed methodology for constructing the path would work using the small type of stone on the steep slope of the summit. 

The path work was evaluated against the Guiding Principles for Upland Path work produced by Mountaineering Ireland including, quality of path work construction technique, llandscape impact and eenvironmental impact. It also provided an insight into the value of progressing the implementation of the project with strong emphasis on training and voluntary inputs building the capacity locally to repair and care for the mountain.

The result of the evaluation process was that The Stakeholder Group was confident to proceed with the proposed path solution together with a maintenance and management regime. 

In 2019, the Stakeholders Group in partnership with Mayo County Council made an application pursuant to the requirements of Section 179 of the Planning and Development Acts, 2000 – 2018 and Part 8 of the Planning and Development Regulations, 2001- 2018 as amended, for Sustainable Access Works to include aggregate and stone pitched paths, path drainage consisting of culverts, cross drains and water bars, fencing for managing access during construction work together with habitat restoration of eroded areas. 

In compiling the application, the following additional reports were prepared:

Consideration of potential impacts on the Croagh Patrick pNHA and Clew Bay Complex SAC  

Croagh Patrick is not within the Clew Bay Complex SAC, however as the steam from the mountain drain into it the project was screened and was found not to have an impact on the Clew Bay Complex SAC.

The Part 8 application was placed on public display from the 30th July 2019 to the 10th September 2019, during which time an extensive public consultation process was engaged in at Community level in Murrisk Community Centre and on Croagh Patrick and at a wider level through social media channels and an open evening in Westport. The application was considered and approved by the Westport and Belmullet Municipal District of Mayo County Council in October 2019.

Croagh Patrick is a unique mountain, having a large proportion of visitors who are not accustomed to mountain environments and extremely high visitor pressure throughout the year. The techniques that will be used to repair and restore the Pilgrim Path on Croagh Patrick follow the Helping the Hills Principles established by Mountaineering Ireland in 2014:

Path work should be of the highest standard of design and implementation 

Good environmental practice is paramount

The addition of intrusive features should be avoided

Machines must be used sensitively and appropriately by a skilled operator 

It should be an objective in any upland path work to train and up skill local people

The objective is to manage the path in a way that is sympathetic to the setting whilst respecting the cultural value of the mountain. The proposed path will be around two metres wide with some variation in width to allow congregation of people without impacting on the surrounding vegetation. Locally sourced materials will be used throughout the repair and restoration of the path and damaged habitats and it may be necessary to move materials along the length of the route to ensure that there are no shortages of appropriate stone. Any imported stone will match that of the Croagh Patrick quartzite. All work will be finished by hand, with the use of excavators kept to a minimum as a means of reducing the potential for health and safety conflicts with continued public use of Croagh Patrick.

Having considered the Shareholders concerns regarding liability, the need to have sufficient interest in and control of the path corridor to execute the path work and secure insurance cover for the project and to afford a reasonable level of protection to the voluntary Stakeholder Group it was decided that a Company limited by Guarantee was the appropriate structure to bring the project forward. The Shareholders, Murrisk Development Association, The Westport Parish and Mayo County Council each have Directors of the Company, Croagh Patrick Stakeholders Limited.

The mountain Shareholders also agreed to lease the path to Croagh Patrick Stakeholders Ltd at a nominal rent for a period of 100 years. The lease has been signed and arrangements are being made to have it registered.

Although Croagh Patrick requires a unique solution to path repair and habitat restoration, it can provide an excellent opportunity for training workers in the range of skills that are required for upland path maintenance and development which are not currently readily available either locally or nationally. 

Because of this and the difficulty in specifying the required work and controlling the quality through conventional civil works procurement arrangements, the implementation of the Sustainable Access and Habitat Restoration Plans through year long training schemes over an estimated three-year period is proposed. The option of delivery through existing schemes such as RSS and TUS was considered, however having regard to the challenging upland work environment together with the need to maintain access to the mountain adjacent to work sites it was determined that these schemes would not provide a viable labour resource.

The scale of the works is conducive to setting up a training scheme for a small team of up to four with possible employment opportunities following the initial training period. Workers would be generally locally based, with up to 50% from the local community and recruited and managed by Croagh Patrick Stakeholders Ltd. The Training Co-Ordinator would be a contract position procured through a competitive tendering process.

A training scheme would require an experienced team leader who understands the unique requirements of the mountain, can share experience and motivate workers. It is likely that there would be some staff turnover as individuals progress, so having the training capacity within the team is an advantage, to ensure that there is continual development. Experience shows that having a trainer on site gives better results than occasional supervision. It is also envisaged that the trainer will provide basic training and supervision for volunteer groups locally and nationally to be engaged in some of the lighter touch works on the mountain which will build capacity for volunteers to assist with maintenance in the future.

Croagh Patrick could potentially develop as a centre of excellence and capacity building at national level, sharing the learnings with other Upland Groups and with the right support, the current lack of vocational qualifications in this area could be addressed by developing a structured training programme with the possibility of accreditation.

One of the advantages of having a locally based team is the ability to take advantage of different weather conditions throughout the year to maximise productivity whilst keeping the team motivated and safe. For example, working continuously on the summit cone for long periods is likely to lead to lower levels of motivation and could be challenging in poor weather. Interspersing this work with tasks on lower ground would provide variety and allow work to continue without significant interruptions. This is a rare situation on a single mountain and is a significant advantage to programming the works. It also means there is a genuine opportunity for year-round employment and long-term benefits for Croagh Patrick in retaining and enhancing the skills developed in path management.

Experience across the world shows that mountain paths cannot be ‘fixed’ with a single intervention. They are subject to the vagaries of environmental pressures as well as visitors and the key to paths being resilient to these pressures is ongoing monitoring and maintenance. The higher the visitor pressure, the more frequent the inspection and remedial actions are likely to be therefore resources need to be made available to secure the initial investment in path repair. The techniques have been selected to minimise the ongoing maintenance, but it is not possible for any ‘solution’ to last indefinitely without assistance. Sustainable solutions require sustained effort. There are different levels of maintenance task requiring corresponding skills, some of which could be done with voluntary effort. Minor repairs to stone structures and remedial adjustments to address changes of use will require skilled workers, but ongoing clearance of drainage and minor surfacing repairs could be done by adequately trained and supervised volunteers. The Group is committed to the long-term maintenance of the work and feels that the implementation approach will deliver the skills and capacity to do this.

In parallel with the efforts to reduce the physical damage to Croagh Patrick, measures will be put in place to help reduce the pressure on the mountain so that the experience for every visitor is as high as possible. This will involve an ongoing programme promoting appropriate use, managing expectations and encouraging people to consider their potential impact on Croagh Patrick as well as helping them to understand the historical and cultural significance of the mountain, through interpretation. This will be actioned through the use of an Event Assessment Tool based on the Mountaineering Ireland Guidelines for Events in Upland Areas.