Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beare was one of the last independent Gaelic chieftains in Ireland in the wake of English attempts to secure crown rule and has been called the "Last Prince of Ireland".

The Beara-Breifne Way follows the line of O’Sullivan’s fourteen-day flight in 1603, together with one thousand supporters, from his lands in Beara, Co. Cork to Breifne in Co. Leitrim. Many clans were involved in both the march and skirmishes along the way and the story lends a fascinating historical and heraldic theme to the route.

The Way, the longest in Ireland, runs almost the length of the country and takes the walker and cyclist to some of its most beautiful and least explored areas.

In the words of Dan Sullivan, Kealkill, the idea was to "transform the theme of tribulation into a celebration of human spirit and endurance"