Lynn raises £2,200 on journey along the Pilgrim's Path

Dunmurry woman Lynn, who teaches at Beechlawn School in Hillsborough, raised an incredible 2,200 with her friends and fellow teachers Cat Moore and Kelly McClements, as they took part in the trek, known as the Camino de Santiago, which took them from St Jean Pied-de-Port in the Pyrenees in France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Lynn decided to undertake the 780km journey in part to celebrate her 30th birthday on August 20, as well as to honour her father Don, who lost his battle with cancer four years ago and who, Lynn said, was with her "every step of the way."

Having walked for 32 days, with just a few rest days, on the Way of St. James, which is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral in the beautiful Galician city of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, where it is said the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried, Lynn entered Santiago de Compostela amid the sound of singing as people completed their journey.

There are expected to be up to 200,000 Pilgrim's travelling the Way of St. James this year as 2010 is a Holy Year, allowing Pilgrim's to enter the Cathedral through the Holy Door and those completing the journey to be granted a plenary indulgence.

"It was incredible," said Lynn. "The atmosphere was absolutely euphoric, everybody was so excited by getting through the door."

Speaking about the journey, Lynn explained: "We walked for 32 days. We thought it would take longer but we only took three or four rest days, once we were in the walking mood we just wanted to keep going. We made so many friend along the way, there were Koreans, Spanish, German's, French, Dutch, there was only one Irish person. We met a couple from Canada who had their six month old baby on their back, it was incredible. There was a totally massive age range from early teens to the oldest person we met who was 78. It was just amazing to see so many people."

The local girls far exceeded their target of 1,000, raising an incredible 2,200, which helped them to keep walking when things got tough.

"We're delighted," Lynn added. "Before we left we were only on 500, but when we were away the money just came rolling in. It was really good motivation when we had blisters or back or leg pain or the heat was getting to us, we'd check in online and see we had donations."

From travelling through French villages in the Pyrenees, through vineyards to the Basque Country and onto flat, harsh land in the middle of Spain, to the mountainous region around Galicia, Lynn, Cat and Kelly walked up to 35kms each day, beginning their day at 6am to avoid the severe heat, which reached up to 41 degrees at its highest.

"It was mostly just us, it was complete tranquility," said Lynn.

"Santiago de Compostela is a lovely city. There were hundreds of people there from early in the morning. The queues for Mass, which started at 12 noon, were huge from 10am."

Whilst taking part in the journey for a charitable reason, Lynn admitted that she found the experience to be a spiritual one at the same time.

"It was really emotional as well," she explained. "There was an excited feeling around the city. We stayed for five days and there were new people arriving all the time. The queue for the Door of Forgiveness, which is only open this year, was incredible, we got there and queued for an hour to go through. There were queues for three to five hours to hug the statue of Santiago (St. James), they would queue for hours for a two to three minute experience.

"There were more people than I thought there for religious reasons. Some people did this for fitness, some for charities, some for freedom from their hectic lives. It really did take on a spiritual meaning though, which is interesting; it was a peaceful experience."

Lynn added: "There was a massive sense of achievement. I'm feeling good and happy, it is such a simple lifestyle, you had everything you needed on your back. It was such a pleasant experience, and I really appreciate now a lot of the things I do have. I met people recovering from cancer, I met a woman who was left very bereaved after 9/11. She was a teacher and she saved the children from the school, leading them to safety, but she still remembers people waving at her from the towers. There were people there for personal bereavements, some of the things I heard were just amazing.

"When I got there it was more spiritual than I had considered, which I really benefitted from."

Having taken part in the journey in memory of her father, Lynn said that he was often on her mind and would have been rpoud of her achievement.

"He was with me every step of the way," she said. "I was thinking about him when I was there. He loved to travel and would have loved the Pyrenees. It was good just to have the time out to think and appreciate him.

"I would definitely love to do something like this again. There are 15 different routes and I would definitely consider it, probably not the same route, but a different route. It was just a wonderful journey."