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Kevin Cunningham. Founder & Chairman |
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The Kilchreest Ramblers was the brain child of local man Kevin Cunningham. Born in London in 1963 during the “Big Freeze” which began on November 1962 and ended around St Paddys day 1953, Kevin has spent all but 6 months of his life in Kilchreest. “I started walking in the Aughtys at a very early age as back in those times it was a part of growing up. At home we went to the bog around St Paddys day and depending on the weather you could be in the bog for six months. Also it was the done thing for farmers to put livestock out on the mountain while the meadows were closed for hay, needless to say the stock needed to be tended every day so they could be in Cloughan one day and in Cappamartin the next - a lot of walking. The other side of my family were from Co Kerry and it was common for us to climb “The Reeks” most days during our summer break there.”
It was the love of the land he grew up in that resulted in Kevin finally gathering together a group of local like minded individuals and thus the “Kilchreest/Castledaly Community Development Group” was born.
“I suppose this was something as a community we should have done many years ago, we lost our post office without a fight .There are other reasons why we should be united as a group-the state of our roads ,pollution etc . Farming the main stay of any rural community is in a bad way and we should be all able to stand together as what affects one will someday affect us all. I do not want to dwell on the negative , there is a time and place for that. What I see is a community with so many things going for it. We have one of the best run schools in Ireland with the best teachers that can be found, a GAA club second to none , many sites of historical importance, two fine Churches. two good shops and two pubs. I always take one more look, I see the old man sitting in the bar who might have a story to tell or a skill to share , I see the house wife who can make jams and bake bread but might not be able to market it. There might be a farmer who might be able to supply timber and turf, there could be spare veg to sell, the list goes on. Maybe we could arrange transport for cancer sufferers to the treatment centres, carry out fund raising. I would like to sit down with the older people and listen to the stories and write them down so they are not lost in time.”
The regular meetings and the love of the hills resulted in the formation of “The Kilchreest Ramblers” in 2009.
” I could see in the development group that there were a few people interested in walking so it was the right thing to do. On 1st December 2009 we had 15 walkers for the moonlit walk, most of whom were new to the development group. The more people involved in community events the easier it is to spread the word. The aim is to develop the many beautiful walks in the Kilchreest/Castledaly area”
“From small acorns mighty oaks grow” so we are looking forward to growing the club in the coming months and years and hopefully passing on some of Kevin's passion for rambling to both the young and the old, male and female, and regardless of experience.
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KILCHREEST RAMBLERS |
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“The Reeks” in Co. Kerry. Hopefully The Kilchreest Ramblers will have many a good weekend down there. |
