The very best at our doorstep and for free

The column below appears in this week's INM Irish regional newspapers.

Michael Commane



Mangerton Mountain looking down on Glencappul.



The sky was overcast in West Kerry on the morning of Saturday August 3. But we had decided the night before unless the weather was awful we would go ahead with our planned climb of Mangerton in South Kerry.

There were five of us travelling from West Kerry and we had arranged to meet up with another family outside Killarney.

There was a torrential downpour on the drive to Killarney but we kept going.

The skies cleared and sometime after 10 o’clock seven children and four adults began the climb of Mangerton.

The sky looked ominous and I was greatly regretting not having brought rain gear with me. A half an hour into our walk the heavens opened and I got drenched. Clown that I am. I was the only one without rain gear. I tried sheltering behind a rock but of course it didn’t work and I got drenched to the skin. And while I was sheltering the rest of the group marched on.

It was the only rain of the day. I walked on and caught up with the group. Dried out too.

Mangerton is 839 metres high and just like every mountain in the world, the sensation of getting to the top is pure joy. And the views too. Below us was Lough Leane. We could see right over to Mullaghanish in Cork.

The first to get to the top were three children and they ran the last few metres. To see them race those last short few metres would do anyone’s heart good.

Their innocence, their fun, their goodness was simply fantastic. And their fitness and agility too. One little girl ran up and down that mountain with such speed and she is the mighty age of eight.

We came down a slightly different route, which was somewhat more difficult.
Usually when coming down a mountain I am inclined to say little – unusual for me - so as to conserve my energy. I’m tired too.

On this occasion for the last half hour or so I was accompanied by nine-year-old Maurice, who talked non-stop about school, football, his Mam and Dad and his sisters. I was mesmerised with his energy. He was not one bit tired.



Okay, it was not like the weather earlier in the summer but it was fine and it was a fantastic day.

Everything about the day was great: the thrill of climbing, the camaraderie, the adventure, the sights and the challenge too.

A few days later I walked from the West Kerry village of Castlegregory to Camp, which is approximately 12 kilometres. I walked the complete route along the sea.

This time my companion was Tess, my dog. We had a great time. It’s a walk that can only be done when the tide is out and even with the tide out we had to circumnavigate a river and paddle through a stream.

It took about three hours. The views were spectacular. There was a cargo boat waiting for full tide to go into Fenit Harbour.

The water was as calm as it gets, warm too. Sometimes, walking on the sand with runners on, then other times paddling in that balmy water. Tess enjoying every moment of it.

On a walk like that it’s always good to have some sort of end in view. On this occasion I called to visit a woman in a nursing home. She is 98, still reads without glasses and when I called she was knitting something for a grandchild.

It really is difficult in words to convey the extraordinariness of such occasions. The peace that it creates. The thrills, the challenge, the excitement of making it all the way. The awareness or realisation of being so fortunate to be able to do such things.

And all on our doorstep.

Appreciate the now and thank God for such graces.