Sunshine, song and the spectacular Inishowen seaside welcomed walkers as the sixth Donegal Camino got underway at Pollan Strand in Ballyliffin today.
Today is ‘Camino Sunday’ and the opening stage of a world-class walking festival with music, friendship, food and fundraising for Cancer Care West’s Donegal support centre.
More than 700 people will participate in this year’s Camino across seven days, which started with just five friends during lockdown.
Carndonagh native Peggy Stringer, President of the Donegal Association Dublin, regularly walked the Camino in Spain before Covid restrictions prevented her from travelling in 2020.
She decided to create her own pilgrimage through Donegal, beginning at Malin Head and finishing at Sliabh Liag.
Donegal Camino founder Peggy Stringer back on home ground in her native Inishowen for the opening day of the 2026 festival.
By the time her first journey reached south west Donegal, around 50 people had joined Peggy. They included close friends Deirdre McGlone and Noel Cunningham, who asked if they could help turn her personal challenge into a larger annual event.
Peggy also had a personal motivation behind her fundraising.
“I’ve lost my father through cancer when I was 15. So I felt that it was a fitting thing to do to remember him,” she said.
“But I had no idea it would ever come to this. It was just a personal journey…but cancer is in everybody’s home.”
Ever proud of her native Inishowen, Peggy was in her element today enjoying the beauty of the area.
Her friend James McLaughlin officially launched the festival before walkers from across Ireland and further afield set out on the trail.
Donegal Camino founder Peggy Stringer with James McLaughlin, who officially launched this year’s event.
Donegal’s diaspora community is also a key part of the festival.
Mark Monagle, chairman of Donegal Association London, joined the official opening walk today to present a cheque for £2,000 to the Camino committee.
The presentation came during the second international ‘Camino Sunday’ initiative, which invites Donegal people throughout the world to organise their own walks or make a donation at www.donegalcamino.ie/sunday
Mark Monagle, chairman of Donegal Association London, presents a cheque for £2,000 to the Donegal Camino committee in support of Cancer Care West. Photo Rachel McLaughlin
The Donegal Camino has raised more than €432,000 for Cancer Care West during its first five years.
The committee is aiming for a net donation of €165,000 from the 2026 event, which would carry the Camino’s overall contribution well beyond the €500,000 mark.
“We will make it. I have no doubt,” says Peggy.
The money supports approximately 350 people affected by cancer in Donegal annually and contributes to around 650 hours of counselling each year.
It also helps fund the Side by Side support group for people living with advanced cancer, Tai Chi programmes and other wellbeing services.
Donegal Camino ambassador and Cancer Care West board member Noel Cunningham said funding these free supports is vital for the wellbeing of patients in Donegal.
“There are so many aspects of the cancer journey and a lot of them are fulfilled at the Cancer Centre in Letterkenny,” he said.
“People forget cancer patients go to hospital. They get treatments. They are helped on a journey, but they have to come home.
“They have to come back to their own communities and their families. Sometimes they need support, like, for example, a chat, physiotherapy, grief counselling, etc.”
Donegal Camino volunteer, Cancer Care West board member and 2019 Donegal Person of the Year Noel Cunningham pictured with friends at the opening walk.
That same sense of support and shared understanding is also central to the Camino itself.
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Committee chairperson John McNamara said: “The days here are much more than walks.
“There’s a lot of people who’ve been on a cancer journey or are on a cancer journey.
“These days become an experience and a chance for people to tell their stories.”
Donegal Camino volunteers Sarah Coll and Michael Coll with committee chairperson John McNamara.
The Camino brings participants into some of Donegal’s most spectacular areas and most welcoming communities during the coming week.
Walkers will enjoy local food, music, entertainment and evening meals together, while accommodation providers, restaurants and other businesses will benefit from a welcome boost as the summer tourism season draws to a close.
The social gatherings also give walkers an opportunity to continue sharing the stories, friendships and experiences formed along the trails.
The sun shines in Ballyliffin for the opening walk of the 2026 Donegal Camino, taking walkers across the Isle of Doagh towards Carrickabraghy Castle, one of the iconic historic sites of the Inishowen Peninsula.
The Camino will remain in Inishowen tomorrow for a climb of Slieve Sneacht, weather permitting.
The route will then travel to the Termon Lough Salt Walk, the Old Railway Walk in Creeslough, the Bluestack Way from Glenties to Letterbarrow and Breezy Hill near Ballyshannon.
The seven-day journey will finish next Saturday on the Sliabh Liag Pilgrim’s Path, with a boat trip available as an alternative to the final walk.
There’s still time to get involved and join any of the walks. Registration and donation information is available at www.donegalcamino.ie
See more photos from the launch:
Former Donegal Person of the Year John McCarter with his wife Breda
And they’re off! Walkers set out on the opening stage of the 2026 Donegal Camino in Inishowen.
Volunteer Deirdre McGlone begins seven days of walking on the 2026 Donegal Camino.
Donna Smith and Margaret Duffy prepare for the opening walk of the 2026 Donegal Camino.
Donegal Camino founder Peggy Stringer sets out on the opening walk in her native Inishowen.
The Inishowen Collective musicians
Bernadette Mulhern, Maeve Barry, Michelle Duffy and Ruth MacGartoll at the opening day of the Donegal Camino.
Volunteers complete registrations, organise support vehicles and provide guidance ahead of the opening walk.
Steadfast Camino supporters Jim Gallagher and Photographer Colm Canny
Claire and Maggie Horan pictured ahead of the opening Camino walk.
Donegal Association London chairman Mark Monagle with his daughter Lily and Michael Gallagher.
Fiona Shiels and Anne McLaughlin at the Donegal Camino launch in Inishowen.
Eleanor Johnson, Mags Whitely, Fiona Dunne, Deirdre Dunne and Mairead McEleney, who travelled from Kerry, Cork, Kilkenny and Clonmel for the Donegal Camino.
Donegal Association London chairman Mark Monagle with Peggy Stringer
Aoife Mac Gabhann, Jean Robillard, Max O’Sullivan and Caroline O’Sullivan prepare to take to the Camino trail.
Maggie O’Brien and Roseena Toner at the launch of the 2026 Donegal Camino.
Donegal Camino founder Peggy Stringer with Paul O’Sullivan of Donegal Online.
John Mc Groary of John’s Walking Ireland introduces the day’s route and delivers the safety briefing before the walk.
A rendition of The Homes of Donegal saw walkers off on the opening stage of the Donegal Camino this morning.