Robert Fowler

Background

Background: There are no very big mountains on the island of Ireland. The highest Irish mountain, Carrauntoohill (Corrán Tuathail) is a little higher than 1,000m. There is no summit that cannot be reached by walking, yet there are many regions that are enjoyed by hillwalkers, hikers and climbers. Although the altitude of such regions is hardly more than Spain's Meseta, due to the combination of altitude and latitude such terrain is agriculturally unproductive , being used mainly as rough grazing for sheep. Many people enjoy mountain activities such as hiking and climbing in Ireland and over the centuries many people have travelled from Ireland to perform feats of mountaineering in the Greater Ranges of the world.

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Robert Fowler

Aig du Chardonnet

Rahinston, Rathmoylan

Robert Fowler is, probably, one of the most under-appreciated of all the Irish climbers and mountaineers of the 19th Century. Well before the foundation of the Alpine Club in London he was visiting the Alps and undertaking significant climbs. He began in 1854 (the AC was founded in 1857) with ascents of a number of the classic cols and passes - col du Geant, Gauli Pass, Oberaarjoch and others and climbed with some of the best guides in the region such as Melchior Anderegg, Peter Knubel, Michel Balmat and J.M. Lochmatter whose names are linked to the foremost ascents of the era with the most prominent mountaineers.

Born in 1824 in Rathmoylan, Co Meath, the son of Robert and Jane Anne. Little is recorded of his early years or of what inspired his initial interest in climbing and this remains a mystery. Substantial landowners in Co Meath, part of the Protestant ascendancy in Ireland, his education and career followed an expected path - BA from Trinity College in 1847, Irish Bar 1850, Deputy Lieutenant, Justice of the Peace and High Sheriff of Meath in 1871.

Subsequent to his first Alpine season in 1854 he visited the Alps for twenty five seasons, joining the Alpine Club in 1865 the season in which he climbed Mont Blanc, Finsteraarhorn, Weisshorn, the Dom along with the third ascent of Aiguille Vert and first ascent of Aiguille du Chardonnet. His climbs, from the Alpine Club records, could be 'ranked simply as the classic best climbs of his era'.

As Frank Nugent points out, 'his substantial alpine accomplishments are not recorded in any of his Irish obituaries. Alpinism appears to have been almost a secret pastime'.

He died in 1897, in Galway, and is buried in Rathmoylan.