100th Croagh Patrick climb for Saint Vincent de Paul

Croagh Patrick 365 challenge – 100 not out


Michael Walsh
Murrisk Notes correspondent

As reported in last week’s Mayo News, Matt Loughrey (32) of Carrowkeel, Murrisk made his 100th successive ascent of Croagh Patrick on Sunday, September 12.
Matt is climbing the Reek every day for a whole year as part of the Croagh Patrick 365 to raise money for the Society of St Vincent de Paul. His aims are to help families in the West of Ireland who are suffering financial difficulties or facing homelessness and to maintain public awareness of the social impact of the economic recession.
To commemorate the 100th milestone, some 64 people came together to support Matt and climb with him. At 10am on Sunday, the group assembled in the Car Park at the foot of the mountain to begin the ascent, including your intrepid local Murrisk Notes correspondent.
The group was an eclectic mix of friends, family, neighbours and supporters, including Matt’s dad, Earl; his brother, Chris; and the new owner of Campbell’s, Padraig Fitzpatrick. The weather initially looked good. It was dry and warm, a little cloudy and with little wind. Your intrepid local correspondent had to rush back home to collect the boots he had forgotten and was consequently left chasing the main group. By the time the white statue of St Patrick at the foot of the climb proper had been reached he was blowing hard and struggling to keep up.
As the climb proceeded, with the group in great form, the weather worsened. It began to rain heavily and a dense band of mist swept in reducing visibility and making conditions wet and tricky underfoot. Your reporter caught up with Matt’s dad, Earl, and a young couple from Holland who were making their first climb. Chatting to strangers, greeting and congratulating those coming down and encouraging those going up is all part of the fun and camaraderie of a Croagh Patrick climb.
The climb up to the ridge is along rocky paths scratched out of the mountain side often with the route obstructed by hard rocky outcrops. Climbing was a physical challenge which your reporter was struggling to meet. As the group inevitably started to string out, Matt abandoned his normal electric ascents (his fastest time is 85 minutes to the top and back) as he moved up and down the line checking our progress, health and sanity.
As we wound our way along the top of the ridge towards the summit the rain abated, but this mercy was tempered by a strengthening of the wind. The cone is the final steep ascent to the summit and is the worst section, as it is a solid rock formation sprinkled with vast amounts of loose rock and shale which in rainy conditions offer a poor foot purchase.
Every step on these steep gradients requires a conscious effort to find reliable grips for your boots. Simply moving forward requires considerable effort with ankles, hamstrings and thigh muscles aching in unison.
Your reporter was now taking more and more breaks and wondering why he had ever agreed to take part. Simply making a donation and staying in bed had never seemed so attractive. Earl, uses his other son, Chris, as his personal trainer. He was finding the climb such a strain that he began to think about reviewing this arrangement. Then the tail enders suffered acute embarrassment by meeting the front of the group on their way down! At least in the Tour de France the peloton doesn’t suffer the indignity of meeting the leader groups passing on the other side!
The climb got tougher and people were stopping more frequently. However, everyone coming down tells you the summit is ‘just around the next corner’ or ‘there is only 100 metres to go’ or ‘you’ll be there in five minutes’. Foolishly, I believed all this and kept going. The kindness of strangers! But that’s the point. You get complete strangers to help you over the line.
Finally, the shape of the Church looms out of the mist. The stark white building was surrounded by people having a break and eating sandwiches huddled in small groups mentally steeling themselves for the return journey. Visibility on the top was barely 20 metres, and the temperature drop was noticeable as hands started to feel numb with the cold.
Most are keen to get going after only a brief stop. The descent is every bit as tricky as the climb. While the ascent is primarily about effort, the descent is about trying to maintain enough traction to maintain your footing and your balance on very steep gradients typically in wet, windy and misty conditions.
Then two incredible sights. First, your reporter is sent flying in the slipstream of a group of young men literally running down the mountain seeking out large and stable boulders and skipping athletically from one to the next, building up a momentum that is hard to stop. Could this become an Olympic sport, I ask myself? The second was the sight of two people climbing up the cone in bare feet – a painful reminder that this is after all a traditional place of pilgrimage. 
I easily convince myself that I simply could not face this ordeal next week, never mind next day like Matt. To do this every day in all weathers is truly amazing. Finally, I come to the top of the ridge and see Clew Bay and its many drumlins spread out like a carpet in front of me. I pause for refreshments and enjoy the spectacular and exhilarating view while gathering myself for the final leg.
This part is relatively comfortable in comparison with what has already been done. But by now we are tired and it is still all too easy to trip and fall. But as the weather brightens, we continue to enjoy the views and start to feel the warmth of the sun. Eventually the statue of St Patrick was reached and then the safety of the Murrisk Car Park.
The feeling of satisfaction and achievement is overwhelming and amply compensates for the aching muscles.
A great afternoon of entertainment was organised to celebrate this milestone of 100 climbs and promote the 365 Croagh Patrick Challenge. There was traditional music and a fantastic display of Irish dancing with world class performers outside Campbell’s pub in Murrisk. The show literally stopped the traffic as cars slowed and then stopped to watch this spectacular exhibition. The five principal dancers who came to support Matt all came from the Mayo and Galway area and are part of well-established local dance groups.
There were two sisters, Charlene and Stephanie Morrison, from Thallabawn in Louisburgh, and Marcus Costello. Charlene and Marcus are part of the Celtic Crossroads Group based in Galway. Along with Fergal Costello, from Oranmore near Galway, they are helping to organise a live Irish music and dance event in aid of The Haven Partnership who organise volunteers to build houses and facilities for the poorest of the poor in Haiti. They are raising money for Build It Week in October, when volunteers from Ireland will come together and travel to Haiti to undertake a number of building projects. Last year volunteers from Ireland built 63 houses, a community centre and children’s playground in Ouanaminthe. This charity Irish music and dance event will be held at Monroe’s in Galway on Saturday 23 October from 8pm.
Finally there is Patrick Coyne, who has been a member of the world famous ‘Riverdance’ production. He has toured the world with ‘Riverdance’ and performed across the USA and Europe as well as in Japan, Egypt and China where he was part of the Beijing Olympic Games festival. Patrick is a local young man who attended Rice College in Westport. He is bringing a ‘Riverdance’ production to Castlebar which will run from Wednesday, September 29, to Sunday, October 3. The dancers were happy to give their services to support Matt and encourage others to back his worthy cause.
The Croagh Patrick 365 initiative has attracted a huge following on the Facebook page where you can enjoy Matt’s daily diary and see his spectacular photographs. You can also track his progress at croaghpatrick365.com. Donations can be made at both sites.