UKC

Hello.
Does anyone know if there is any climbing or bouldering in Co. Donegal on the west coast of Ireland? I'll be staying in Donegal for a couple of weeks for a university field trip and was hoping to get some climbing in too....
Thanks, Jo.

In reply to Jo: Durrrrr. A quick search on Yahoo, using the terms 'climbing' and 'donegal' revealed youtube.com/watch?v=V3Hr_ocfXvs& perhaps you should revise your data collection strategy!

In reply to Jo: try http://www.climbin... - it has a good databse of routes for each county.

In reply to Jo: Also: http://www... - Dave Flanagan & the lads would be able to point you in an informative direction. He went fishing in the rain yesterday out of frustration at the wettest bouldering season in recent memory. There is some fine bouldering & trad out along Donegal - explore - peak round corners. Or indeed, as above, simply trouser trumpet your way around the coastline. Murvagh beach wins for a tent. Emission Improbable? I think not...

In reply to Dave Stelmach:

A bit harsh, Dave. You can hardly expect a student to have the time or inclination to do research, can you?

Kevin

BTW 'climbing' and 'donegal' work surprisingly well in Google too

In reply to Jo: The Poisoned Glen is worth a look.

http://www.pete-smith.co.uk/ is a useful site for info about climbing in Donegal. There are loads of photo's and a database on it.

In reply to Jo:

Went to Donegal last year to climb in the Poisoned Glen. Tempted by descriptions of big 1000 mountaineering routes.
In fact the cliffs above the PG are heavily vegetated and broken. No better than forgotten Welsh cliffs like Diffwys or Llechog.
Beaten by the weather anyway. Looking around I was underwhelmed by the inland crags but apparently the sea cliffs and islands are good.
In the end I felt a bit daft taking a ten hour ferry trip from Liverpool..driving through the night across Ireland when in half the time I could have gone to Cornwall or Scotland, not forgetting the quality on my doorstep.

Interesting seeing how the planning laws have been torn up apparently by the Irish government and bent local authorities in Donegal. It seems you can buy a plot of land and throw up a breezeblock hacienda if you like.
Villages along the Donegal coast are taking on the appearence of ugly frontier towns.

In reply to Jonno:

Bingorm is good - by the road, multi-pitch, interesting climbing, lovely situations.

Mick

In reply to Jo: Ignor Jonno as all he ever comes out with is criticism.

There is loads of great climbing & bouldering in Donegal. Some of the main crgas are Malin Beg, Muckross head, Gola Island, Poisoned glen. Alot of it is relatively underdeveloped but it all depends on the type of climbing you want to do & where you'll be going. Get back to us on both these points & I should be able to help point you in a better direction.

In reply to Jo:

I've heard good things about Gola. Muckros is quite nice. Malinbeg in my opinion is not all that - think Basher's Harbour, if you've ever been there.

There's a shedload of boulders to fool around on, some huge and with futuristic lines.

jcm

In reply to Jo:

I climb in Donegal fairly regularly. Email me directly if you want info on specific areas as there is a massive variety of climbing in the county - most of which sees very little traffic.

Pete Smiths website is defiantly the best place for climbing info on line. The online guide is still a work in progress http://www.pete-smith.co.uk/ but it does detail all the main crags and has 100's of route descriptions. There are also some great pictures of whats on offer.

The shortspan website is your best place for bouldering info and there is also a MCI guidebook for Donegal.

Gola Island, Muckross Head, Lough Belshade and Malin Beg are all well worth a visit.

In reply to Jonno:

Brilliantly written Jonno. Aside to the thread but i just wanted to say well aired. Donegal is quickly being knackered by the 'who you knows'.

In reply to ali_mac:

I come from Sligo (next to Donegal) and I have to say I have not seen much evidence of this? Any examples? (just curious)

In reply to Conchur O Riain:
quite simply looking from the head of Muckross towards the land the cottages, which are predominently holiday shacks, are scattered all over the hills side. If Devon was developed similarly, the place would be full and now would be selling off house hold gardens as building plots. Which would create a lot of nimbism and self perpetuating wealth for those lucky enough to have arrived first, which is where Donegal's land rush is headed. The ribbon development and the rural development requires far better control and juristicion.
Love also the randon dwelling architecture that has brough over various styles of neo mediteranian columns. Style.
On a positive note, I simply adore the people of Donegal for their spirit and warmth and that's with an English accent. I was only ever met with generosity. I find the place to be stunning and care deeply for it development.

In reply to Conchur O Riain:

Bunbeg looked like it must have been nice in the 50's when the Dradso Brothers first explored the area but it looked as if that builder from Ballykissangel had been given carte blanche to build bungalows and breezeblock sheds. Dungloe was horrible. A vision of what happens when councillors and planning officers are...thick/bent/aesthetic philistines...take your pick.

I'm used to the strict planning laws in rural north Wales where, thank God, the vernacular architecture is cherished and protected. You need to jump through hoops to build a new property and if you do get the PP it has to be built in the vernacular style.

Eire -and to a certain extent Scotland- appear to put utilitarian functionalism before beauty. In Ireland they have gone that bit further by just building more of these eyesores.

Oh Aye...a wind farm on Errigal. That certainly enhances the mountain experience !

In reply to ali_mac:

Hmmm, most disturbing. Yes, the neo-mediteranian columns.....I have noticed them come to think of it!

In reply to Jonno:

Right! Time to employ some old tactics.....burn them out of it!

The councillors are undoubtedly both thick and bent!

In reply to Conchur O Riain:

I would also like to enquire of the climbing on the valley to the south behind the Benn in Sligo? Ben Bulben? Seing as it is a limestone bed, are there quality out crops and crags venturing inland behind the Ben? I never made time to explore better, in my time of residency in the Republic.

In reply to princebuster:

for Muckross take some BIG cams. There are some wonderfully athletic roofs only feet from the ground to go at. On sandstone. Wonderfull stuff and a stunning place to stay late and catch a sunset. Which about now is 11:30 GMT.

Gola requires a little more arrangement to catch a fishing boat out to of a saturday morning.

In reply to ali_mac:


I was actually making enquiries about this recently, it seems there are access issues there with the land owner, I know of a couple of routes that are about HS, 75m with good gear but have not climbed there myself.

I only started climbing since I moved over this side of the water a few years back, but am moving home next year so will be checking out the climbing scene around the north-west for sure!

In reply to Conchur O Riain:

ha ha ha

bent they might be at a higher level than I experienced. Thick they most certainly are not. Sorry, joking aside, there are some quite brilliant people doing great heart felt work in key areas of responsibility with in Donegal Co. Co. They are the mid thirty professionals that have returned to live a life and brought with them a cosmapolitan view and standards (-no not the columns!). I just wish the old order would shake up and get hold of the building control. it is no laughing matter. Donegal and its people are fantastic. But is it becoming blighted by bad taste and corruption.

In reply to Jonno:

The climbing in Donegal far outweighs the architectural merits of the region.

Yeah the white bungalow plague is a cause for concern but this has to be weighed up against a history of famine, war, poverty and deprivation. What you may not have noticed is that the majority of new builds in the region are right beside dilapidated old ruined cottages from the not too distant past.

Ireland has had to come form very far behind over the last couple of decades and the planning laws are still playing catch up.

Sure Donegal might have been allot prettier in the 50's, full of picture post cards thatch cottages and loveable Irish rouges but if people would rather live in modern warm houses instead if sit**y rundown thatches from bygone years then that’s their choice.

The newly built homes in the once abandoned village on Gola Island are a perfect example of this.

If you english would stop coming over and bribing councillors to get PP to put up your white bungalow holiday homes it'd all be grand. I'm allowed to comment freely as I'm from the area in question

In reply to princebuster:

Fair points.

I did notice the decaying ruins alongside new build utilitarian jobs. I've noticed the same thing in the NW of Scotland.

Not sure how valid it is to compare rural politicians in Wales/Scotland and Ireland.
All countries have suffered from English Imperialism and gone through rural de-population. For some reason the Welsh appear to have a more passionate commitment to preserving its traditional architecture.....and its language for that matter.
Buildings appear to be an important part of Welsh culture. It appears less important in Scotland and Ireland.

In reply to jamesboyle:

come, come now James. It's not so much us English as you English. The holiday carbuncles of Donegal are primarily owned by the pound brought in from 'The North'. Silly of Donegal and the Republic to accept the coin, say I.

And yes I do understand and appreciate the development of the new houses being along side the existing inpoverish shacks. Infact, I was stunned into sickening disbelief and astonishment at my exposure to one such 'historic dwelling and life style' during 2001.