Walkers on the trail sometimes continue up to the summit of Croagh Patrick. The mountain has been associated with ritual focus for thousands of years and it still is today.  It is unique in an Irish and European context in that we have both the physical evidence of a major later prehistoric and early historic ritual, ceremonial and defensive focus combined with an unbroken pilgrimage tradition stretching back into the depths of recorded history.  The main day of pilgrimage is the last Sunday in July (Reek Sunday)It is believed the earliest Christians arrived in Ireland some 400 years after the birth of Christ.  At this time Ireland was deeply submerged in pagan ritual and tradition.