Relaunch of Inchigeela Walks by Croí na Laoi

On Sunday September 7th last; a set of walks were relaunched in Inchigeela.

These walks are of varying levels and distances and are suitable for all walkers, cyclists and runners. The event was launched at 1pm with the unveiling of the new mapboard in River Island car park.

The walks were put together by Nora O’Riordan and Theresa Cotter in 2014 and more work was completed on the trails in the past year to get them Sports Ireland approved with the inputting of a vast amount of way markers and a new mapboard in the island with detail on five walks along with a QR code for phone/digital access to the map. The walks offer a huge variety of distances and difficulty to cater for all levels through very different landscapes which are all offered from the one trail head.

All these routes are on quiet country roads but offer very different viewing and majestic unspoilt landscape on every route. One route called Céim Daunt is a short 4 km loop through an indigenous and ancient oak woodland, another carries you on a 10 km sharp incline through the mountains that is akin to the Scottish Highlands with heather moorland and majestic views over the mountainscape and lake country on offer while it offers another route along a series of lakes on the River Lee called the South Lake Road. This route is similar to a coast road even though it is along fresh water.

The relaunch was attended by local politicians John Paul O’Shea TD, Andrias Moynihan TD, Senator Eileen Lynch, Councillor Kate Lynch and Councillor Gobnait Moynihan. Chairman Tim Maher spoke about the importance of community work and commended the vast amount of work completed by the sub committee.

Shane Galvin led the sub committee of Croí na Laoi who delivered the project where they worked on this for the last year. Galvin spoke about the importance of the team involved in the project and outlined the process in getting these walks nationally approved by the State. Andy Wells, Dan Kelleher, Neasa Ní Laoire, John F O Callaghan, Anthony Murphy and Tim O’Shea were all part of that team and all were pivotal to the success of the project. There were two walks completed on the day in aid of West Cork Rapid Response who were in attendance at the event.

Liam Slattery and Kate Crowley of the organisation spoke at the event about the importance of what they do and the voluntary nature of their emergency service to West Cork residents. The 4km loop was led out by the West Cork Rapid Response 4×4 and another group tackled the slopes to do the Derenannig Linear 10 km walk. A  large crowd attended the event where refreshments and music were provided in Creedons Hotel afterwards. Croí na Laoi is a very active Tidy Towns and Development Society and has lots of exciting projects in progress which will benefit the community in the long term. They are actively working on another forest trail / walk with panoramic Lake views at the Holy Year Cross and are seeking to redevelop the local community hall as well as a walking bridge crossing the river Lee.

The walks are now available in Inchigeela which is a beautiful part of the upper Lee Valley in a hidden corner of West Cork. Why not try them out and explore this hidden gem.