20th Century - First Decades

     1900 -1910.   As we have already shown, the first decade of the 20th Century saw quite a bit of mountain activity at home in Ireland and in other places.  As Michael Fewer has indicated , the Wicklow mountains were being frequented regularly by a wide range of hikers and cyclists, if mainly of the upper and professional classes, as the visitors' book of Mc Guirk's teahouse indicates. The Brotherhood of the Lug had been founded; members of the Dublin Arts Club had been exploring Ireland's mountains and travelling to Wales for the rock clinbing organised by Geoffrey W. Young.  The Irish members of the Alpine Club held a dinner in Dublin in 1906.

About an equal number of women as of men visited Mc Guirk's on their visits into the Wicklow Hills, although the women's names were often not recorded (e.g Mr & Mrs F. Frowd and maid).  Some of the notable people people who visited were: G.A.J Cole, Director of Geological Survey of Ireland; J.M Synge; J.B. Malone (father of J.B.); Rev. W Doyle, S.J; J. Swift Joly; F.M Browne, S.J. 

    1910-1920.  This was a decade of upheaval in Ireland no less than in many other places. The following events had a significant and devastating effect on Irish society: Dublin Lockout 1913; Great War 1914-18 ; 1916 Rising.  (Follow the links for detailed accounts).  Despite such traumatic occurrances Mc Guirk's continued to be frequented throughout the decade by hikers and cyclists who were venturing into Wicklow's mountains; in 1917 J.J. Cronin beat Hart's time for the return walk from Terenure to Lugnaquilla by more than three hours.  Inevitably, however, mountaineering activities were curtailed due to the outbreak of WW 1, notably on the small group of rock climbers, members of the United Arts Club. 'Poignantly, despite O'Brien's return to Young's gatherings (in Wales) after the war, the influence of the little group on Irish climbing ceased, as Sparrow and Julian were killed during the war, while Dickenson suffered from shell shock.' (Paddy O' Leary)  Of the many notable people who wrote in Mc Guirk's visitors' book only a few are mentioned here because they feature again in this story: Dr John Healy, Alpine Club member and a founder of the IMC;      Joseph Maunsell Hone, wrote Persia in Revolution along with Page Dickinson;    Capt. Eoghan O'Brien, R.E, Alpine Club member;     Brotherhood of the Lug :     Na Sleibhteagaigh

   1920-1930.  Following the Great War Ireland was convulsed between 1919 and 1923 by the War of Independence that preceded the Irish Civil War.  Many of the hill areas that might have been frequented by hikers or mountaineers saw fighting and unrest and became guerilla refuges during the conflicts, somewhat akin to how they were used by Rapparees in earlier times. It would have been a foolhardy soul who ventured into such places for recreational activities.  With the end of hostilities in 1923 there was a gradual return to mountain activities in Ireland.  As paddy O'Leary indicates it was Claude Wall and friends who were among the earliest to venture into the Dublin and Wicklow hills.  In 1925, the 15 year old Harold Johnson began climbing on The Scalp, an area of granite boulders and cliffs near Kiltiernan.  At school in Kendal, in the English Lake District, he subsequently was involved, with Maurice Linnell, in the devlopment of the climbing at Buckbarrow Crag near his school.

Buckbarrow Crag

The Scalp (1888 Lovett)

Despite the convulsed state of Ireland during these years numbers of Irish people were active in mountains in other parts of the world, viz. Valentine Ryan, Charles Howard Bury, Mervyn Ryan,   Ernest Shackleton, Tom Crean; and their exploits will be viewed in due course.

The Irish and Everest

 Mount Everest (known locally as Sagarmāthā in Nepal and Qomolangma  in Tibet) is Earth's highest

Everest from Rongbuk Glacier (1921)

 mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at its summit. Its height was most recently measured in 2020 by Chinese and Nepali authorities as 8,848.86 m (29,031 ft 8+1⁄2 in).  (Wikipedia).

The British geographic survey of 1849 attempted to preserve local names when possible (e.g., Kangchenjunga and Dhaulagiri). However, Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India, claimed that he could not find a commonly used local name, Waugh argued that – because there were many local names – it would be difficult to favour one name over all others; he therefore decided that Peak XV should be named after British surveyor Sir George Everest, his predecessor as Surveyor General of India. Everest himself opposed the honour.

Everest (Wikipedia)

He had visited Ireland in 1829 and inspected the 'Colby Bar' as used in the Survey of Ireland for baseliine measurement and its possible suitability in the Survey of India. (A neice, Mary, lived in Cork from 1855 to '64 as wife of  George Boole, professoor of mathematics at Queen's College - now UCC).  In 1852, stationed at the survey headquarters in Dehradun, Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak.

The British expedition of 1921 was the first to explore the possibility of climbing Mt Everest.  Charles Kenneth Howard Bury was leader of the expedition and the surveyor was  a Canadian, Edward Oliver Wheeler.  On the third British Expedition, in 1924, Richard Hingston from Cork, was the medical officer.

The first Irish attempt on Everest was in 1993 and members were from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Irish party in 1993 consisted of eight climbers: Dawson Stelfox, (leader); Frank Nugent (deputy leader); Dermot Somers, Robbie Fenlon, Mike Barry, Richard O'Neill Dean, Mick Murphy and Tony Burke. This was the first Irish attempt on Everest and members were from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The trip was supported by the Mountaineering Council of Ireland (MCI), the Sports Councils in Dublin and Belfast and financed by Irish companies and fund raising events.

Camp at Lakhpa La (1921)

(Some more details Here)

Some Irish Stats on Everest: (up to 2024).

– Everest has been climbed 76 times by 59 Irish climbers (9 women, 50 men) since the first Irish success in 1993.

– The geographic split of successful summits is 31 Northern Ireland, 41 Republic of Ireland and 4 Irish Diaspora.

– Irish success rate on Everest is 52%, while there have been four Irish fatalities (2005, 2011 & two in 2019).

– The first Irish climber to reach the summit of Everest was Dawson Stelfox from Antrim in 1993.

– The 1993 summit by Dawson Stelfox was the first North side ascent by a climber from Britain or Ireland.

– Noel Hanna (Co. Down) has 10 Everest summits – Noel died on Annapurna in 2023.

– Robert Smith (Co. Tyrone) has 7 Everest summits – Robert is an accomplished mountain guide.

– Pat Falvey & Lynne Hanna have 2 Everest summits each – once from each side (Nepal & Tibet).

– Linda Blakely (Armagh) in 2018 & Robert Smith (Tyrone) in 2019 summitted Everest & Lhotse within 24 hours.

– Everest & Lhotse by Linda Blakeley in 2018 was the first ‘same season double’ by a climber from Britain or Ireland.

– The youngest Irish citizen to summit is Anselm Murphy (24). Youngest Irish born to summit is Rob Mortell (26).

– The oldest Irish citizen to reach the summit of Everest was Martin Byrne from Offaly (58) in 2012.

– Four Irish born climbers died on Everest – Sean Egan (2005), John Delaney (2011), Seamus Lawless (2019) & Kevin Hynes (2019).

– Noel & Lynne Hanna hold the world record for the 1st married couple to summit together from both sides (2009 & 2016).

– Edmund Hillary’s grandmother came from Clondra in Longford. His other grandparents were from Yorkshire in England.

See Here for more info.