Atlantic Tabor: The Pilgrims of Croagh Patrick

For five consecutive years Dublin-based photojournalists Tomasz Bereska and Tomasz Szustek have travelled to Croagh Patrick on Reek Sunday to take photographic portraits of some of the 20,000+ pilgrims who climb the ‘Holy Mountain’, focusing on the incredible diversity and different backgrounds of the participants. In Atlantic Tabor they present 60 stunning colour portraits of the pilgrims, plus an additional 60 atmospheric B&W photos that add to the story.
To complement the beautiful images, the photographers invited Dr Patrick Claffey, Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department for Study of Religions and Theology at Trinity College Dublin to contribute to the project. Dr Claffey provides a brilliant analysis of pilgrimage phenomena in general terms worldwide, as well as more detailed exploration of Croagh Patrick in particular. He explains how pilgrimages were once primarily sacred but increasingly have become secular; he lists many of the holy mountains of the world and their associated pilgrimages; he describes the myths, prehistory and early history associated with Croagh Patrick; he defines the role ‘the Reek’ has played over the centuries in Connaught Catholicism; and he shows in detail the various paths one can take to climb Croagh Patrick and what to expect at the summit.

Dr Patrick Claffey is Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department for Study of Religions and Theology, Trinity College Dublin, specialising in World Christianities, inter-religious dialogue and contextual theologies. He is also a Lecturer at the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy and All Hallows College in Dublin and President of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions. Photographers Tomasz Bereska and Tomasz Szustek, both originally from Poland, are co-founders of the freelance photojournalism agency Uspecto Images.