The Irish Mountaineering Club use Glendalough in Wicklow as a climbing training base.
Serious mountain-climbing began in Ireland during the 1940s. Before that, there was a tradition of hill-walking, with dedicated climbers travelling abroad, to places like the Alps. Then they realised that Irish mountains could be a training ground, and took to various locations in Ireland, from Glendalough in Wicklow to the Poison Glen in Donegal. By 1965, the Irish Mountaineering Club had 300 members. Club member and Dublin engineer, Noel Masterson describes the thoughts that can enter a climbers head.
When I began to climb first, I had no conscious fear at all. Now the greatest fear is that of being afraid. The mindless panic that any of us who climb badly know well the hurried feverish search for holds, the growing realisation that there are no holds or if there are they can't be seen.
'Discovery: Irish Mountaineering Club' was first broadcast on 9 July 1965. The reporter is Brian Cleeve.
