Kanturk Hillwalkers and Mountain Climbers | Blog

The club outing on Sunday 29 July was to Gleninchaquin Park in the north west side of the beautiful Beara Peninsula. We left town at  08.00 in some what overcast conditions, with a smattering of rain. Undaunted we travelled west towards Barraduff. Turning for Glenflesk then through Healy Rea country . We stopped in Kenmare for coffee / tea and to stretch our legs. Refreshed we carried on. Turning  left after a few miles into Gleninchiquin Valley. This long narrow coomb valley was formed approx 70000 years ago by glaciers. The roadway into the head of the valley is a winding torturous route, a test of driving skills which thankfully all our drivers passed with flying colors. By now the weather had brightened, and with Cloonee Loughs  and Inchaquin lake to our right and the majestic 140 meter waterfall tumbling down to the valley floor in front of us, we knew we were in for a treat. After the recent rain the waterfall was in full spate. Reaching the car p...

On Sunday July 8th the club outing was to Mount Brandon in the Dingle Peninsula. At 952 meters this mountain is just 86 meters shy of Carrauntoohil. It is a formidable mountain and it dominates the peninsula. Rising up from sea level to its majestic summit. Leaving town at 08.00 on a bright morning, we had high hopes that we would have cloudless views from the summit. The mountain is notorious for its cloud covered head. We had reports that the summit had been  clear all week. We stopped at a filling station in Blenerville for coffee / tea and  to meet up with members who had travelled from other areas. A few kilometers outside Tralee we met some light rain. Imagine in Ireland it was a talking point in the car....we had actually seen some rain..the sky darkened. After some time the sky brightened again. Passing through Cloghane we turned left up to our starting point at Faha. Here we got lucky as we found enough room to park in the small car park. Changing into our ge...

On Saturday 23 June the annual Club nighttime climb took place. Our destination was the West Pap. As the last of the night owls were heading to their beds we left town at 01.00 heading for Clonkeen. We passed through the sleeping towns and villages eventually arriving at the parking spot at the start of the climb. Initially, there was great interest in the climb, but people dropped out one by one, until there were only four left all male. We were amply rewarded for our efforts. At the car park, we geared up and fitted our head torches. The night was balmy as we made our way upwards. As we gained altitude the twinkling lights of Killarney came into view. We proceeded at a steady pace as conditions underfoot were excellent and the route was gradual. Time on our side we decided to rest up in the lee of a rocky outcrop and had some refreshments.We didn’t want to summit too early. We had the mountain to ourselves save for a few startled sheep, whose eyes glowed in our headl...

On Sunday 24 June the club travelled to the village of Ballycotton. Leaving town at 09.00 we travelled to the beautiful rich countryside of East Cork. We parked up at Bayview Hotel and had the usual cuppa in the outdoors area overlooking a Mediterranean blue sun-kissed sea. We then proceeded uphill to the start of the cliff walk. Ballycotton being a fishing village has had its fair share of sea tragedy . A stark reminder at the start of the walk of how unforgiving the sea can be is a plaque to a young skipper who lost his life in 2006. Also at the start is the decommissioned lifeboat the Mary Stanford which served in Ballycotton from 1930 to 1959 saving many lives during that time. This boat and it’s crew took part in the ledgendary rescue of the Daunt Rock lightship which broke it's moorings in the 7 Feb. 1936 bringing all eight crew members home. For their efforts, the crew were awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for bravery. The boat also got a medal for gallantry, t...

The Old Kenmare Road was described in 1750 as a Grand Jury Road by Charles Smith. It was built by subscription to link Killarney to the sea.It was known as the Glanerought Road. The road was in regular use up to 150 years ago. The club walk on Sunday was on this ancient trail. Leaving Kanturk at 08.00 we headed for Muckross House where we parked up. Then got on the pre booked bus for Kenmare. The weather was glorious.We headed up through Molls Gap and Ladies View soon we were in Kenmare. The bus took us to the town land  of Goulane. This eliminated a few kilometers of road walking. The steep road soon gave way to a rough track and behind us the views over Kenmare Bay opened up. The Beara Peninsula off in the distance. The faint outline of the Skellig could be seen. Upwards we went until we reached the Windy Gap, here we stopped to take in the views, and some water.At 300 meters this is the highest point of the walk. Peakeen mountain to the West and Knockanaguish to the East. The...

On Sunday 20 May the club hosted a walk in conjunction with Cork Walking Week. The walk was the Clara loop walk which is 10 klms long. Using the power of social media and some old fashioned posters we advertised in the area. We timed the walk for 13.30 with registration at 13.15 in the GAA Hall in Millstreet. This was new territory for us and we weren’t sure how many to expect. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors we had an ample supply of fruit, chocolate bars and water available for all walkers. The turnout was better than expected. It was great to see so many people, young and not so young  interested in doing the walk. After registration and a quick talk on the rules for the day we headed out of town, down the Clara road. Passing the grotto we turned left and continued for 500 meters before turning right into Mount Leader wood. Through the wood until we reached a stile. Our trail then skirted the forestry. We eventually came to a gate which led to open mountain and the ...

As it turned out this weekend we had to rearrange our plans due to circumstances but our tour of south Munster still rolled on & we ended up doing the Glanageenty Forest trail in Ballymagelligot  just after Castleisland.  On an absolute fantastic morning which was warm with clear blue skies & this left us great views all the way back to Mount Brandon & Tralee Bay on one side & The Paps on the other side with Carrauntoohill & The Reeks straight ahead of us. There is really only one thing to say , on a sunny day like Sunday we live in a great country.  One thing you do notice about this trail is that it is steeped in history as you will find out with all the palques & signs.  The walk itself was perfect & has a bit of everything with a few short but testing climbs & then into valleys as our route contoured up & down with sometimes in the wide open & next trailing through a forest.  Not much more to say but a grea...