St. Vincent's students and teachers left Dundalk to take on the challenge of the Camino

It was certainly a case of putting their best foot forward when 23  St. Vincent's students and four teachers headed off to Galicia in northern Spain to complete the last 100km of the Camino Frances.

The route is part of the well known pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, which has seen its popularity increase over the last number of years.

The intrepid group undertook the challenge as part of their Gaisce journey.

Gaisce, also known as The President’s Award, is Ireland's national youth award program, which encourages personal development and achievement in young people through setting and pursuing personal challenges.

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St. Vincent’s students have been taking part in this program for a number of years.

Earlier this year over 70 students were awarded their Bronze Award, while an impressive 45 recipients achieved their Silver Award.

Many of these Silver awardees took part in the recent Camino, which they hope to use as part of their endeavours to secure a Gold Award.

Gaisce Co-ordinator and teacher Deborah Challoner organised the recent trip and described the experience saying: “We began our journey on the 24th September which is Mercy Day, a special day for our school as we celebrate our founder Sr. Catherine McAuley and we felt it was a fitting beginning.

"This linear section took us from Portomarin into Santiago across four days walking on average 25km per day to that night’s accommodation.

"We embraced the pilgrim culture, staying in the local albergues (hostels), and eating the Menu del Peregrino.

"The days were filled by embracing the rural Spanish countryside, chatting to locals and other pilgrims, stopping for coffee, snacks and the odd ice cream, and getting fancy stamps on our pilgrim passports.

“With weary bodies but full hearts we made it to the stunning Santiago Cathedral and ended our wonderful trip with the pilgrims mass, a beautifully powerful celebration of everyone's journey and reasons for doing it.

"On return the students were presented with their camino certificates during a prayerful ceremony in the school chapel, which was a fitting end to a wonderful, unforgettable experience for staff and students alike.”

Deborah added:  “The girls were outstanding and the trip epitomises the physical, mental and personal challenges that represent the spirit of Gaisce.

"The Gaisce program is continuously growing in the school and we wish the students who are pursuing their Gold Awards the very best of luck.

"We look forward to hopefully celebrating this huge honour for both them and the school in the future.”