after some advice

[fedster]

Group of us limey north west boys and girls
are thinking of a trip over to your side of the pond

the trip will most likely be sept to march time

what where looking for is to get the most of are time in Ireland as theirs so many rivers each of the group wants to do
the main issue we have walked into is Camping
so i am hoping you can kindly help out here
where ideally looking for a central location (where thinking Co offaly)

the camp site must
1 allow groups mixed about 6 to 12 (when i say mixed i mean scouse, mancs, cockneys Oh and a welsh man)
2. allow camp fires, i know its rare but all trips have had them (nowt like a few beers and tall story about how big that 4 foot drop really was)

maybe a good selection of good rivers with a mix of drops and hard sections (lowest grade member is a solid grade 3 paddler) so anything from 3 upwards

thanks for reading this massive speech
and hopefully some kind soul can help
Reg Tony

[dave f]

Hi Tony,

In terms of your location, I'm not sure about basing yourself in Offaly. The central region of the country is mainly lakes and relatively flat rivers. You are a long way from grade 3 action or above. The main action tends to be in either Wicklow or Kerry area (that is not to say there is stuff within reach of Offaly, like Clare Glens). It might be worth basing yourself somewhere for a period and then moving on to another location afterward.

I'm biased being an East Coaster...so I tend to gravitate to Wicklow. It is a huge tourism spot and you should be able to find suitable facilities. Off the top of my head, there's a good camp site in Rathdrum (hidden valley i think its called) which is fairly central to the main kayking rivers like the Avonmore, Annmoe, Dargle, Glenmcnass, etc.

Also, not to leave out my Munsters brothers, you can't come all this way and not look at Kerry. if you based yourself in North Kerry area you have all the rivers there (some of the best in the country) but you are also in range of Clare Glens if the weather allows. I don't know about camp sites in that part of the country, but like Wicklow, tourism is massive...you should be able to find what you need. But some of the best Rivers I've ever been on are in Kerry, Clydagh, Flesk, Roughty and so on.

Checkout websites like Camping Ireland or Discover Ireland...there should be plenty of information there. Alternatively, the guys at Canoe Ireland (http://www.canoe.ie) should be able to help you too.


the very best of luck with your plans


Dave

[fedster]

cheers dave will have a good look
tbh where still looking through the list of the rivers on the site

are their any particular rivers that have a dam release or good water yearly round ?

[dave g]

As a kerry/cork paddler i'm kinda biased the other way.
Best collection of rivers is in the south west, the flesk and the clare glens are up more often than anything else in the country, and if all else fails there's some wicked surf to be had. (take that, wicklow!)
And to answer the question, no, theres no dam release year round stuff here.
Only dam release rivers give water rarely and only normally for events like the galway fest or liffey descent and other than the Boluisce in Galway they tend to be on lowland rivers
Plenty of campsites in the Killarney area, not sure on the open fires issue.
But I do agree, dont stay in the middle, pick one or two areas out of kerry, wicklow and donegal and relocate

[Seanie]

This map should give you a good idea of the locations that have a good amount of rivers close by:
http://www.irishwhitewater.com/river_guide/map.php

[fedster]

cheers seanie

[tiernan]

the trip will most likely be sept to march time

Are you hoping to do like a 2 week trip in this time or are you planning on coming for 6 months?

But I do agree, dont stay in the middle, pick one or two areas out of kerry, wicklow and donegal and relocate

Ireland is a little smaller than the state of Maine. Even if you were here for 2 weeks you would have plenty of time to get around all of Ireland (provided you planned your trip). Best bet is arrive into Dublin or Shannon (no bias just fly wherever is cheaper) and see where the water is, and to follow the rain.

Get onto local university kayak clubs* (they are always on for skipping class for kayaking) for tips on access or whats runnable. also the lads at i-canoe, who are always out paddling.

This website is an invaluable resource but there is also an older river guidebook that you should get your hands on.

Tiernan

* Local Clubs (There are more of course, just google kayak and the place you want to go!)

Dublin/ Greater Dublin/ Wicklow area- DUKC, UCDCC
Waterford/ South East- WIT
Cork/ Kerry/ South West- UCCCC
Limerick/ South West- ULKC
Galway/ Connamara- NUIGKC
Sligo/Castlebar Area - GMITc
Donegal/ The North West - LYITKC, Donegal Canoe Club
Belfast/ The North East - QUB

[dermo99]

Have to update the western entry
For Galway there is also the GKC website @ http://www.galwaykayakclub.com

[tiernan]

Well yes there are hundreds of more clubs around the country hence the quote:

* Local Clubs (There are more of course, just google kayak and the place you want to go!)

but lets face it - Uni clubs are the ones most likely to do mid-day, mid-week paddling. I mentioned Donegal CC because I couldn't find a website for LYIT.

[dermo99]

I know - but couldn't resist!

Thanks Tiernan.

[roseannephelan]

Few more college clubs to add to the existing list;

DUKC, UCD, DCU, DIT, MUCK
WIT
UCC, CIT
UL
NUIG
GMITc
LYIT
UUJ

All have facebook groups/ pages. They work off these and or club forums, mostly last minute plans to head out.

they are always on for skipping class for kayaking

but lets face it - Uni clubs are the ones most likely to do mid-day, mid-week paddling.

... I can definitely vouch for these comments
You'll find a list of all the ICU registered clubs on the 'irishcanoeunion' website.

[ham n salad]

South west is where you want to go, Kerry is probably going to be most consistant area when you'll be around and you're still within range of the Glens if we get a decent bit of rain while you're here. You might find yourselves travelling around the coast to find water, there are lots of rivers in the east and west of the country too, all of which depend on local rainfall to run. The middle of Ireland is pretty much empty, of roads/people/mountains/rivers/whatever. Another advantage of the south and west coasts is that if there's no rain then there's probably going to be some pretty decent surf around, especially in Autumn.

Hitting up college clubs for people to paddle with is a really good idea. When you know exactly when you're going to be over here post up on this and you'll be put in contact with the right people.

Heres a video guide to the best river in the country, in my objective, unbiased opinion!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d12_xuNH ... ature=plcp[/video]

[caz]

The Northwest (Sligo/Donegal area) is also very good for surf if there's no rivers up and running.