A chance to climb Slievenamon
Celebrate the summer holidays in the great outdoors by climbing Slievenamon on Sunday, July 17.
The mountain is quite accessible and manageable for most people. It is not a difficult climb at 2, 368 feet. What better way to keep fit than by tackling a mountain? Stretch your leg muscles and improve your physical fitness and your mental alertness. Admire the unspoiled views of nature, the environment, the refreshing quality of the air, and the splendid vista over a number of counties from the top of Slievenamon. Bring family members, a friend or a group of friends and make an outing of it.
Historian Dr Thomas Mc Grath is inaugurating an annual Climb of Slievenamon on Sunday, July 17, celebrating the mountain’s history and heritage and is calling on anyone who is interested to join him in climbing Tipperary’s most famous mountain on that day.
He stated: “Slievenamon is one of Ireland’s best known mountains. Every Tipperary person should be able to say that he or she has climbed Slievenamon more than once.”
“I am calling on anyone who feels young at heart, on all young people and all those who feel young, regardless of what age they are, to climb Slievenamon. What better time to climb the mountain than in the holidays of high summer,” asked Tim.
HISTORICAL REFERENCE
The climb has a historical reference point. It will mark the fact that the Young Irelanders held a great meeting on top of Slievenamon on the third Sunday of July 1848. There were thousands of people present who had walked all the way from Clonmel, Cashel, Fethard and places in between. Speeches on the day were made by Thomas Francis Meagher and Michael Doheny, both of whom called for a better Ireland than the one then in the middle of the Famine.
Dr Mc Grath stated: “We are going to remember the past while looking to the future on one of Ireland’s most iconic mountains. The ancient heroes, the Fianna of early Irish lore knew this mountain. It is associated with Finn Mc Cool and the women of Ireland. It is celebrated in Irish poetry and in the Tipperary anthem by the Young Irelander and Fenian, Charles J. Kickham, who chaired a great meeting on the mountain.”
All are welcome to enjoy the mountain. Climb from Kilcash at anytime during daylight hours from morning to evening. Dr Mc Grath, who is from Ballingarry, stated that he will make the climb starting at 3pm.