Gathering at the Hearth: A Samhain Pilgrimage in Ireland
27 October- 3 November 2026
Come home to the wild west of Ireland, gathering at the hearth to honor the ancestors’ wisdom and guidance at this ancient turning into the darkest time of the year. Come home to the heart of this land who encourages the remembering of who we are, in our earthly bodies and the mystery and possibility of our presence here. Come home to yourself, celebrating with community these ancient rites and traditions, as the veils thin and the magic is afoot.
The mythical Cailleach, the veiled one who reigns over the dark season in Ireland, will be our guide. We will traverse the sacred landscape to visit sacred springs that flow with alchemy. We will harvest the last leaves and berries that nourish our bodies for the dark months ahead. We will practice old rituals, weaving in the life of the light half of the year, as we welcome the season of mystery that the dark encourages us to embrace.
We will cook ancestral foods, forage from the hedgerows, celebrate the old festival and feast days in new and remembered ways. We will co-create with the land, the ancestors and the Cailleach, listening to their wordless prayers as we offer our own.
This pilgrimage experience includes seven nights, shared bedroom, ritual and herbal crafts, ceremony at the hearth and on the land, storytelling and a retreat day. Includes all transportation within Ireland, entrance fees, guides, ritual supplies, breakfast and dinner each day. If you prefer your own ensuite room, a few are available for an additional single supplement of $200.
Our pilgrimage home is a guesthouse outside the seaside village of Kinvara on the west coast of Ireland and at the gateway to the mystical Burren in County Clare.
Come home to these ancient rhythms, within and without.
NOT INCLUDED: Airfare and travel expenses to Ireland. We will collect you on the arrival date at Shannon Airport (the closest airport). If your arrive into Dublin you can take a bus to Galway and you will be collected there. Also not included: travel insurance, one meal per day, dessert, all drinks including alcohol.
Investment: $1,850. To register, please send a $500 non-refundable (transferable) deposit to Tonja via Venmo or www.paypal.me/tonjareichley. Final payment due 30 days before commencement of the pilgrimage. Please contact Tonja with any questions at tonjareichley@gmail.com.
Proposed Daily Itinerary (subject to change):
Day 1: 27 October. Arrivals and collection at Shannon Airport or Galway Coach Station (for those coming from Dublin). We will get settled into our home for the week and have time for a rest, a walk to the sea or into the village. In the liminal light, we will have our opening ritual at the hearth and on the land who will be holding us this week.
Day 2: 28 October. After a leisurely start to the day and a ritual at the hearth,, we will venture into the Burren lands where we will visit a sacred Neolithic site and the Cailleach. We will be held by hazel groves as we walk on the bones of the Earth, the limestone that makes the Burren so mystical and unique, visiting a hidden sacred spring and a threshold point to the otherworld. We will have a treasure hunt for hag stones at the beach, at sunset before feasting at a local seafood restaurant.
Day 3: 29 October. We will greet the new day in sacred circle before we traverse into the We journey into the blue mists, bogs and stark beauty of Connemara. We will visit Brigit’s Garden, receiving the wisdom of the Samhain garden, held by Earth-woman. We will listen to story with words and non-words and write new stories on our hearts, guided by Brighid, as Cailleach. We will seek healing, honoring grief with the ebb and flow of life and death, from the sea and perhaps take a baptismal dip into her waters.
Day 4: 30 October. The hearth will hold us as we begin our day together in stillness and in ceremony. We will journey to the wild edges where we will visit a pilgrimage place and a grotto/ sacred spring/ holy well that holds healing for the living and the dead. We will add our lights to the candles that are lit here to honor the ancestors. We will walk a fairy glen, feeling the thinning of the veils and welcoming the opening. We end the day as we began, at the hearth, with Compline.
Day 5: 31 October. A retreat day at the hearth. We will deepen into stillness, inviting in the otherworld with love and reverence. We will co-create with the herbs we have gathered from sea and hedgerow, to tend to our beautiful bodies and each other. We will cackle like the Cailleach, remembering the joy of celebrating in community. We will carve turnips and prepare ancestral foods like oat cakes, stewed apples, colcannon and soda bread for our ancestral feast.
Day 6: 1 November. All Saints Day. From the hearth fire, we move onto the hearth of the land (earth is part of hearth). We will walk a labyrinth, perched on the side of a Burren mountain, overlooking the sea. We will chant with ancient echoes in an abbey and listen to the songs and rememberings, wordless, offered by the breeze and the land. We will close the day, the death of the day which is also the beginning, in our ancient Celtic way of being, at the hearth with Compline.
Day 7: 2 November: All Souls Day. Gathering at the hearth, we begin the day together with the Cailleach and the ancestors, naming those who have died this year and lighting candles for their souls. We spiral out into the turas to explore a fairy fort and a castle where magic was and still is practiced. We will take lanterns into a deep dark forest, reflecting the wisdom of the Earth as she prepares for her death cycle and allowing ourselves to be held by the night. The fire of the hearth will welcome us home and we will dance with the Cailleach in our closing ritual.
Day 8: 3 November. Departures. The light of the hearth kindled within, taking this ember to our own homes.