Sacred Mountains: Spirituality & Heritage Conservation. A Comparative Study of Croagh Patrick, Ireland and Montsacro in Spain

This Master thesis presents a comparative study of two sacred mountains, Croagh Patrick in western Ireland and Montsacro in Asturias, Spain in order to explore the synergies that take place between their cultural, spiritual and natural values so as to investigate in what ways these synergies and more specifically the spiritual and intangible values, affect the conservation of these sites.

The first chapter presents an introduction to sacred natural sites and their history in conservation. The second chapter introduces both sites, including description, location and history. It also explains the research methodology that will be used. The third chapter presents both sites’ natural, cultural and spiritual values including conservation impacts and state. The fourth chapter begins introducing the socio-economic values in both sites and focuses afterwards in their protection and management. The fifth chapter presents the discussion and conclusions of the research analysis results.

The work also includes a S.W.O.T. analysis and a presentation of the synergies that take place in these sites and how they affect conservation.