Early rock climbers (20th C) - Conor O'Brien - a climbing sailor

 Conor O'Brien was the son of Edward O'Brien of Cahirmoyle, Co Limerick, and his second wife (Julia Mary Marshall, whose substantial wealth was based in Yorkshire and Lancashire).  Conor grew up in South Kensington, was educated in England (Winchester 1894 -99, Trinity College, Oxford 1899-1903),  frequently visited his relatives in Ireland as well as visiting the Swiss and Italian Alps. 

 After qualifying as an architect he worked for the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society (IAOS), designing creameries in the Limerick area and worked on the design of churches and private houses.

In 1907, the United Arts Club was established by luminaries including W.B. Yeats, George ‘AE’ Russell, and Augusta Gregory.  OBrien was among the founding members.  Another member was Page Dickenson, with whom he became a close friend.  Their friendship may have been based on their shared enthusiasm for mountain climbing, for in the years 1909, 10 and 11 weekends and holidays were spent climbing the mountains of Ireland with a group from the Arts Club. 

 Dickenson had been climbing at Pen-Y-Pass in Wales since the first of Winthrop Young's  climbing weekends there in 1903.  Frank Sparrow,  another Arts Club member, had been also climbing there since 1907.  Easter 1911 was OBrien's first Pen-y-Pass sojourn and afterwards, on occasion, he sailed to North Wales  to join the climbing group in his own yacht.  On these weekends he climbed with such notables as Geoffrey Winthrop Young and George Mallory (of Everest) and both were invited to sail with him to Ireland's south west coast to explore Mt Brandon in Kerry for its climbing possibilities, which they did but found that the Old Red Sanstone of the region was unimpressive for climbing.

Robert Graves (poet, novelist), who had also climbed in North Wales wrote of OBrien:  "..we did real precipice climbing and I had the luck to climb with George (Mallory)...Kitty O'Brien and Conor O'Brien, her brother...He would get very excited when any hitch occurred; ...Kitty used to chide him 'Ach Conor dear, have a bit of wit!'...he used to climb in bare feet."

(Kitty seems to be totally forgotten as an early woman climber)

As a sailer his great achievement was his round the world journey, to circumnavigate in a small personal craft, west to east, and soutth of the three great capes.  One of his objectives in this was to climb Aoraki (Mt Cook), which was not achieved, but he climbed South Africa's Table Mountain.

After two years he returned to Ireland, became a successful author, publishing numerous books and articles.  He died in 1952 and is buried at Loghill Church in Co Limerick.

Further details see:

In Search of Islands. A life of Conor O'Brien.  Judith Hill. Collins Press

Conor OBrien. Sailor Extraordinaire.  Vincent Murphy.  Flag Lane Publishers.

Of Irish parentage

A notable number of climbers in the 20th Century had a parent or parents who were Irish.  It is not being claimed that this characterised them as Irish.  However, the influence of a parent may have been significant in their careers, climbing and otherwise.

Three such people whose contribution to mountaineering took place mainly in the 20th Century were:

Edward O Wheeler

Edward Oliver Wheeler: son of Arthur Oliver Wheeler  (born Kilkenny) and Clara Macoun, daughter of famous Canadian botanist John Macoun (born in Magheralin, Co Down. His autobiography).With his father climbed his first mountain at age twelve - named Mt Oliver - in Canadian Rockies. Surveyor on 1921 Everest Expedition.

 Young (Wikipedia)

 Geoffrey Winthrop Young: renowned British mountaineer was the son of Alice Eacy Kennedy, daughter a leading Dublin physician. A 'woman of splendid presence and forceful character', when she died in 1922 the Times obituary described her as one of the last grandes dames.  'The Irish connection was precious to Geoffrey. As a child he enjoyed long summer holidays at Belgard Castle, the Kennedy family home near Dublin...in the enlivening company of his Irish cousins', one of whom was Page Dickenson.

Mervyn Ryan

Mervyn Ryan: Born in Malta in 1883, son of Maj Charles Aloysius Ryan of Inch House, Thurles. Cousin to Valentine and Lionel Ryan of Thomastown, Birr, Co Offaly. Educated at Stonyhurst (1898-1902), became a railway engineer in Argentina where he had a number of mountaineering seasons in the Andes and climbed Aconcagua on 5th February 1925 (4th ascent of the mountain).

Their achievements will be examined in due course.

Another, who operated in the 19th Century was Amelia Edwards -  born on 7 June 1831 in Islington, London, to an Irish mother (of the Walpole family of Tipperary) and a father who had been a British Army officer before becoming a banker, Edwards was educated at home by her mother, (visited the Walpole family in Ireland often during her childhood) and showed early promise as a writer. 

At the time of Edwards's visit, the Dolomites were described as terra incognita and even educated persons had never heard of them. 

After her descent from the mountains, Edwards described civilized life as a "dead-level World of Commonplace". In the summer of 1873, dissatisfied by the end of their journey, Edwards and Renshawe took to a walking tour of France.[9] However, this was interrupted by torrential rains, a factor that influenced them in looking towards Egypt.[7]

Conor O'Brien was the son of Edward O'Brien of Cahirmoyle, Co Limerick, and his second wife (Julia Mary Marshall, whose substantial wealth was based in Yorkshire and Lancashire).  Conor grew up in South Kensington, was educated in England (Winchester 1894 -99, Trinity College, Oxford 1899-1903),  frequently visited his relatives in Ireland as well as visiting the Swiss and Italian Alps.  After qualifying as an architect he became a friend of Page Dickenson, joined the Dublin Arts Club and climbed in North Wales with Geoffrey Winthrop Young and others.  He is mainly remembered for his sailing exploits - a round the world voyage on his yacht 'Saoirse'.

See In Search of Islands, a life of Conor O'Brien by Judith Hill

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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.

Early rock climbers (20th C) - Page L Dickinson

Early members - United Arts Club
Courtesy United Arts Club
Dickinson indicated
Cartoon - B Elvery

 Some climbing had been carried out on an intermittant basis during the 19th Century by visiting Alpinists such as John Tyndall.  It seems that no regular climbing had been undertaken until the early years of the 20th Century.  The main practitioners were members of the Dublin (United) Arts Club of which, if they were not among the founders, were very early members.  Page Dickinson, Conor O'Brien, Frank Sparrow, Edward Evans, E.L. Julian were the main group members.   The inspiration for their undertaking such an unusual activity as rock climbing is not clear.  However, Page Dickinson was a cousin of Geoffrey Winthrop Young and this may have a bearing on the matter.  By the early years of the century Young was already making his name as an Alpinist and climber, visiting Skye, the Lake District, North Wales and the Alps. In 1903 the weather was too bad for his usual Alpine season, so he went instead to Ireland, visiting cousins and to go cycling, walking and climbing in Donegal.  There is no evidence that Dickinson accompanied him. 

When Young returned to England that year he went with a group of friends to Snowdonia, to Pen-y-Pass, did some climbing and partying at what was to become the first of a tradition of annual 'get togethers' of British climbers in North Wales 'that continued for some thirty years under Geoffrey's benign direction''  One of those who attended was Page Dickinson and it is very likely that it was he who encouraged other members of the Arts Club to take up the activity.  As he said:  During the last three or four summers, (i.e as early as 1904): a small group of us living in Dublin have, inspired by Easter and 'Xmas spent in Wales and Cumberland, been exploring the Wicklow mountains, with a view to ascertaining what we could find in the way of rock climbing.'  [Climbers Club Journal - Vol XI. Sep 1908. No 41].

They discovered '..a remarkably fine looking crag..' at Lough Tay. 

Lough Tay.  Wikipedia

This was the crag at Luggala and he tells how he and three friends (Sparrow, Evans and Earp) spent  six hours on the rope in the first ascent of what he named the 'Black Route'.  Frank Sparrow, Edward Evans along with Conor O'Brien were also some of the people who attended the Pen-y-Pass 'parties' under the direction of Winthrop Young and their stories will be recounted in more detail in future posts. Earp was an English motor enthusiast and does not seem to have climbed again in Ireland. 

Dickinson was an architect and is primarily remembered as an architectural historian and journalist

Cappoquin House

 but could also be counted as one of the earliest  regular rock climbers in Ireland.  He was also an artist and exhibited at the Water Colour Society in Dublin in 1906 and 1908, the  Irish International Exhibition in Dublin in 1907, the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin in 1907 and 1913, and at the annual exhibitions of the Architectural Association of Ireland in 1908 and 1910.  Having left Haileybury School (Hertfordshire) he spent 'a year or so abroad', was then apprenticed to the architect Richard Caulfield Orpen in 1900, whom he later joined in partnership and worked on projects in Spain and Italy and on many country houses in Ireland. The spell abroad seems to have been his travels with Joseph Maunsell Hone when they went to Persia and produced an account of their travels : Persia in revolution, with notes on travel in the Caucuses    

by Dickenson from the book.

Dickenson's letter
re renovation of Cappoquin House.
Irish Aesthete

In 1915 he enlisted as a member of Dublin University Officer Training Corps and became a captain in the Mechanical Transport division; early in his service he suffered shell shock.  After the war, he found himself among 'those who…had to leave their native country owing to the acts of their fellow-countrymen'.  Towards the end of his life he returned to Ireland to live and died in Kilmacanogue, Co. Wicklow, Ireland on 1 October 1958.

See DIA for further biographical details.

Early 20th Century Rock climbing in Ireland

 The first recorded climbs in Ireland were done in 1925 at the Scalp by Harold Johnson,

The Scalp (Joe King -  CC ).

 but climbing as a recognised activity did not really get underway until the group known as the "Old IMC” began climbing in 1942. ( Calvin Torrans).  However, despite not being a recognised or organised activity there certainly was some climbing undertaken in the early years of the century.

As mentioned earlier some members of the Dublin Arts Club regularly travelled to North Wales.  It is very likely that they undertook some climbs around Dublin on sea cliffs or in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains.  One of these, Page L. Dickinson, went as far as to write a piece for the Climbers Club Jounal entitled:      A Rock Climb in County Wicklow. (Vol XI. Sep 1908. No 41)  In this he says "During the last three or four summers, (i.e as early as 1904) a small group of us living in Dublin have, inspired by Easter and 'Xmas spent in Wales and Cumberland, been exploring the Wicklow mountains, with a view to ascertaining what we could find in the way of rock climbing.'  He mentions crags at Lough Bray, Glendalough, the Scalp, Rocky Valley and Lough Dan but only to say that they didn't provide many possibilities - even though some of these became, later in the century, much used by climbers.

He goes on to describe how '...one day last summer, after having spent a weekend at Lough Dan, and working out some little problems...' they discovered '..a remarkably fine looking crag..' at Lough Tay.  This was the crag at Luggala and he tells how he and three friends (Sparrow, Evans and Earp) spent  six hours on the rope in the first asccent of what he named the 'Black Route'.  It has been impossible to locate this climb for certain, but the most likely location is Intermediate Gully, with one of the several routes above Pine Tree Terrace as the finish. (see IMEHS Journal Vol 2 pp 43).

Luggala (Wikipedia)

A few years later Dickenson, along with a friend (Conor O' Brien) wrote another article for the Climber's Club Journal entitled Mountaineering in Ireland, in which they describe the Rock Climbing possibilities in the various mountain ranges around the country but in their opinion '..rock suitable for serious climbing is almost entirely lacking...nothing to repay a definite climbing visit...'.  This may have done a dis-service to the development of the sport since, in later years, many of the places mentioned became serious rock climbing venues - the Mournes, Comeraghs, Fair Head, the Burren.

This group of friends, members of the newly formed Dublin Arts Club, made regular visits to North Wales.  Geoffrey Winthrop Young had begun, in about 1907, to organise gatherings of climbers at Pen-Y-Pass in Snowdonia.  He was a cousin to Page Dickinson, who. along with some of his Irish climbing friends feature prominently in accounts of these gatherings that later included some of Britains outstanding climbers.  Another member of this group was E.L. Julian who features in accounts of the Pen-y-Pass gatherings.

Page Dickenson, Conor O'Brien, Frank Sparrow, Edward Evans, E.L. Julian were the main group members and their stories will be recounted in more detail in future posts.

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Clubs and Organisations

 The Alpine Club, the world's first mountaineering club was founded in London in 1857.

Its first President was Irishman, John Ball and James Bryce, another Irishman,  was President from 1899 to 1901, before being appointed Ambassador to the USA.

As we have seen, many of the pioneering Irish alpinists of the 19th C had been members of the AC.        It seems that from among those living in Ireland that the first organised 'mountaineering' event was

University Club

 held. James Bryce, as Under Secretary of State for Ireland, had led 'his panting subordinates up the steep side of Croagh Patrick'.  If this event is discounted it was the dinner held by the Irish AC members in the University Club on St Stephen's Green, Dublin, that might qualify.  Bryce had been the President of the Alpine Club, was an important figure in Ireland's administrative establishment and was soon to be appointed as British Ambassador to the USA and the event may have been organised by his AC colleagues to celebrate this.  However, there was no Irish club or organisation involved.

ALPINE CLUB DINNER IN DUBLIN.-The first dinner of members of the Alpine Club resident in Ireland was held at the University Club, Dublin, on January 26, 1906. The members of the latter Club having invited their fellow Alpinists' to meet the Right Hon. James Bryce, ex-President of the A. C., the following party assembled to welcome him to Ireland: H. de Fellenberg Montgomery (senior member), in the chair; Sir F. J. Cullinan, C.B.; Hon. G. Fitzgerald, Rev. W. S. Green, H. Warren, G. Scriven, R. M. Barrington, Rev. P. S. Whelan, H. Synnett, W. J. Kirkpatrick, G. B. Tunstall Moore.  (Courtesy: Alpine Club).

More about these to follow.

Early Brotherhood
 members

Brotherhood of the Lug                                                                                                                Somewhat earlier another event took place that could be regarded as the inaugeration of the first 'mountain' club.  This was the foundation of the 'Brotherhood of the Lug' that took place on the summit of Lugnaquilla (The Lug), the highest mountain in Wicklow and Leinster, on March 8th 1903.  Although not claiming to be 'mountaineers', they were prodigious walkers regularly walking distances of 35 km in the Wicklow hills.  The 'cradle' of the Lug, as they called it, was the Vale View Hotel in Avoca, where they stayed overnight before their annual ascent of Lugnaquilla.  The club continues to the present time and its hiking, trekking and climbing is no longer limited to Wicklow, as it was initially, but ventures much further afield.

See IMEHS Journal Vol 4:  Peter Quinn, Ireland's Oldest Walking Club for more detail.

United Arts Club, Dublin.  It came into existence in 1907 as 'a high spirited, non sectarian, non-political social club'; W. B. Yeats, George “AE” Russell, Lady Augusta Gregory -  these writers, along with Ellie Duncan, Count Casimir and Countess Constance Markievicz, founded the United Arts Club.  Despite having no obvious connection with mountaineering a number of its members were enthusiastic Rock Climbers and visited North Wales to climb with the leading British alpinists of the day.  These were such people as Conor O'Brien and Page Dickenson and others.

More about these to follow.

CHA - founded in Britain in 1891 ( by Rev. T.A. Leonard) as the Co-Operative Holiday Association.
This organisation arranged 'good value' walking holidays and established hostels in England, Scotland and Wales. with the aim of encouraging people to visit and enjoy the countryside.  In 1922, James Doyle, who had holidayed with the organisation, wanted to set up a similar association in Dublin.  On writing to the HQ in England, he was given a list of 42 names from Ireland of people who had holidayed with the group, 27 of which were in Dublin.  Following an 'ad' in the Evening Mail and after writing to some, the first meeting was held on 13 Sep 1922.  About 20 attended and the first 'Ramble' was on the 21 October 1922 when they met in Rathfarnham 'a village nestling at the foot of the Dublin Mountains'.  They continued with a programme of rambles and social events, opening a hostel in Bray that had to close in the 70s.  The 2nd WW and the lack of transport affected activities and membership but the club continues today as the Countrywide Hillwalkers Association.  See here for more details.

HF stands for Holiday Fellowship and has its origins in  Lancashire when, in 1891, the Rev T.A.
Leonard starting taking young people walking on the hills. He first formed Co-operative Holidays Association (CHA) and then in 1913 he formed the Holiday Fellowship.

Early HF hikers.

 The emphasis of the organization was on healthy outdoor exercise and temperance (long since abandoned!).   The Dublin branch of Holiday Fellowship was founded in March 1930 by a small group on the south side of Dublin, The Club grew rapidly in members, including Guinness employees and every year they went to an HF center to holiday. There were many notables in the club, like Wilfred Brambell and Dr. Sheehy Skeffington. From the early days there was a programme of rambles and hikes in the mountains of Wicklow and surroundings.                                                                                                                      The club now has  no formal link with the UK company HF Holidays,  though it occasionally holidays in one of its houses.    See here for more information.

Hostel Association:  We are An Óige, the Irish Youth Hostel Association. We were founded in 1931 and ever since it has been our mission to provide safe, affordable, comfortable accommodation and experiences to the young and young at heart. Our aim is to foster an appreciation of nature and the world around us to all, be it backpackers, school groups or families. Many of the hoistels are located in remote areas and give easy access to Ireland mountain regions.

Scouting Ireland:  Scouting Ireland has its history in two legacy Scouting organisations — the Scout Association of Ireland (SAI), formerly known as the Boy Scouts of Ireland, and the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI). The former traces its roots to 1908, and the latter was founded in 1927 – both trace their legacy to Lord Baden-Powell's Scout Movement.                                                                         By 1908, the influence of Baden-Powell's Scout Movement had spread from Great Britain to Ireland. The first recorded meeting of Scouts in Ireland took place at the home of Richard P. Fortune, a Royal Naval Volunteer Reservist, at 3 Dame Street, Dublin on 15 February 1908 where four boys were enrolled in the Wolf Patrol of the 1st Dublin Troop. The earliest known Scouting event in Ireland took place in the Phoenix Park in 1908 with members of the Dublin City Boy Scouts (later Scouting Ireland S.A.I.) taking part.                                                                                                                                           In Dublin in the 1920s, two Roman Catholic priests, Fathers Tom and Ernest Farrell, followed the progress of Scouting and in  1926 the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI) (Gasóga Catoilici na hÉireann) was created. CBSI would later become the largest Scout association on the island.

These organisations (other than the Alpine Club) are unlikely to consider themselves 'Mountaineering' clubs.  (It was even sugested that the AC was founded for 'gentlemen who enjoyed walking steeply uphill'! ) The CHA has designated itself a 'Rambling Club'.  However, all of them have facilitated the activity of climbing mountains among their members.

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