BROADCASTER AND botanist Éanna Ní Lamhna has availed of a bird’s eye view of the country after completing the 26 highest peaks on the island.
Ní Lamhna, accompanied by her husband, John Harding, and her friend Una Connaughton, began their arduous mission in January in her native Co Louth with the 589m Slieve Foye, and ended on Tuesday in the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks near Killarney with the soaring Carrauntoohil, the country’s highest peak at 1039m.
Speaking in Killarney yesterday, she said the Slieve Foy climb appeared difficult at the time but her fitness has increased and going up the Devil’s Ladder in Kerry was not a huge challenge.
The former An Taisce president was inspired by the detailed blog of Murray Nolan, who took on the same challenge to remember his daughter Eve, who died at birth, and to raise funds for the Little Lifetime Foundation charity.
She followed the “incredible” detail of Mr Murray’s blog, which gives a daily account and helpful information, including a table of the 26 mountains. The route took her to places such as Antrim’s 550m Trostan mountain, which she would never have visited otherwise.
The 795m Mount Leinster is the highest peak in Carlow and Wexford so that took care of two counties. During her trip Ní Lamhna developed her opinions on tourism and trees – she is president of the Tree Council – and the education of children.
There were far “too many too big” Nama-type hotels, she said, and she now chose to stay in family-run or owned hotels or guesthouses. While the weather is one of the less attractive features of holidaying in Ireland, she notes that at least it is not so hot that you cannot go outdoors and there are “no mosquitoes when you open the windows at night”.