Cois Mara Adventure, the expedition so far!

My path to this unique life and Cois Mara Adventures began on warm summer evenings after a hard day’s work in the bog. My father would wellie boot off through the crispy heather and long scorched grass, which at five or six years old was almost waist height for me. He would disappear over false summits as I’d try to catch up and watch for grouse rising and red deer on the horizon. The views from the slopes of Grúgan Mór stretched away to many parishes and off shore Gaeltacht islands. My curiosity for outdoor adventure was sparked.

One day in mid-1990’s my mother shouted at me as I was playing on a steep footbridge with my brother, my little body ceased up, I couldn’t physically move from the spot, my sibling ran back and dragged me off the concrete isthmus.

I developed an irrational fear of heights and after a few unsuccessful attempts of reaching Errigal’s peak, Donegal’s highest, I decided to embark on a mission to vanquish this obstacle to adventure.

I fundraised thousands of euros for Charity and signed up to trek across the Great Wall of China. At 19, I had envisaged perfectly preserved fortification walls of meticulously placed stone, alas, I was faced with almost 10 days of steep undulations, with bricks one or two in width, crumbling underfoot. The magnificent views of towers capping mountain peaks, the children playing X’s and O’s and braiding my hair in an orphanage that we camped at and the friendly locals in their 80’s and 90’s with superior flexibility and strength in an ancient Willow and Sycamore Park at 6am practicing Tai Chi had me awestruck, the unique culture gave me an appetite for more.

Two years later I was summiting Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. It was on a day of rock scrambling above Lava Ridge that I finally managed to take a quantum leap in overcoming my limiting fear of heights; opening up a brand-new world of outdoor adventure and camping beneath the stars.

I embarked on many similar expeditions in the following years, such as trekking across Cuba, from Havana through the jungles and coffee plantations to white sandy beaches with soft jazz music in the air, I had my first experience of bioluminescence, as I watched lightning storms rolling across the skies over Jamaica in the distance. Fidel Castro was still in charge and the salsa dancing and art scene was thriving.

In Thailand, we trekked along the WW2 Death Railway to the Burma (now Myanmar) border, passing huts of displaced Rohingya refugees. It was forbidden to offer these young ladies and children any medical aid, food or clothing. We went Elephant riding and white-water rafting and kayaked back down the river Kwai. Snakes can swim.

Cotopaxi, Ecuador, the world’s 3rd highest active Volcano, last erupted in 2016.  

We made acclimatisation hikes on various other mountain peaks in the Andes before travelling on the dusty roads to the active stratovolcano for a day of Ice Pick and Crampon training.

At 11pm on the 19th October 2012 my guide set off at a fast pace, I believe he was concerned about crevasses moving if the heat of the morning sun were to hit the glacier. My head torched beamed off the glittery ice sheet, the sky was an abundance of stars and thunder showers passed intermittently over the city of Quito below. At around 200m beneath the summit, I got intensely cold, my movements became slow, a cough and a heavy crushing pain in my chest became persistent. In the dark, I removed my helmet and placed it on the ice next to me; the pressure in my brain felt like it could no longer fit in my skull.

This was High Altitude Sickness. My descent to a lower altitude was denied and delayed by over ten hours.

Following a panic attack, I slipped into unconsciousness until later the next morning. By this stage, my symptoms had developed into multiple, bilateral pulmonary emboli (extensive blood clots in both lungs) and heart failure. With sheer determination, I managed to take five connecting flights and three days later, with one aircraft engine failure incident in London and an elderly lady with a zimmer frame walking from the plane into the terminal at Madrid Airport faster than me, I was back in Ireland. My mother, a public health nurse, who conveniently specialised in palliative care, met me in Carrickfinn Airport. With one glace she became deeply concerned that my lips were blue and my arms were turning grey, she took me to see Dr Sweeney and a short time later, the medical staff at Letterkenny University Hospital, Co. Donegal, sprang into action and saved my life.

By this stage the hypoxia, lack of oxygen to my brain had caused immense damage to my Pituitary gland. Following extensive tests, a fertility specialist and an endocrinologist broke the news to me that the complications would be permanent; however, I remain hopeful that I can defy medical science for a second time running.  

I felt that this entire Medical Emergency could have been delt with better.

In order how to learn how to keep myself and others safe whilst playing outdoors, I decided to take on the EMT, Emergency Medical Technician course and Mountain Ireland’s Mountain Skills and Mountain Leader courses.

 A few years and a lot of recovery went by and I was fortunate to meet Iain Miller of Unique Ascent, Europe’s only professional Sea Stack Climber and provider of Mountain Ireland Courses. Iain and I’s first encounter was on a sea stack in Bun na Leaca about a decade ago, one abseil above the Atlantic Ocean and I was hooked. Since then, I have assisted in many a new route, on a quest of having as much fun as possible in the process. I find rock climbing to be a ravishing amalgamation of adrenalin and meditation.

One of my most memorable sea stack and cliff moments so far have been on a hot June morning, on my inaugural week-day liberation. Iain Miller and I set out on our single kayaks towards the unspoilt Owey Island, Oileán Uaigh, N.W Donegal. I dispatched Loki, Iain’s four-legged companion on the Eastern Pier, along with messages of groceries and newspapers for my cousins Sid and Karen, who live there on that exquisite isle with no running water or electricity for most of the year in the Old Post Office that they bought and have cherished since 1989. My mentor and I paddled over to a towering sea stack facing Errigal. We pulled our trusty ships high above the water line on Tor Leice Riseach and set up for a day of vertical antics. A few brand- new routes later, including an E1 5B, it was time for me to go back to the Islands’ natural Harbour, known as the Spink- Port a Bháid or Scoilt na Linga, for a swim and snorkel in the crystal-clear sandy bay with my family. The scent of freshly baked treacle bread diffused in the sea air and after a pot of tea boiled over the gas cooker in the kitchen, I made my way contently back across the Sound to Cruit Island.

On reflection of my day, I realised that the opportunities that the Mountain Leader Training and Rock-Climbing instructing courses have afforded me with an abundance of remarkable memories, the opportunities to explore many sea stacks, caves, cliff faces and mountain ranges that simply wouldn’t have transpired if I hadn’t embarked on my quest to learn and improve my knowledge and skills in both realms. 

I have dramatically reduced my super stressful Dental Clinic based work to set up my own company, Cois Mara Adventures. So far, I can confirm that the views and smells are both substantially better than working in people’s mouths all day long!

Thankfully, every summer weekend thus far has been very busy with bilingual Irish Coastal and Island Guided Tours. In the future I hope to expand my scope of practice to Mountains and Rock-Climbing Excursions.

I passed my Low Land Leader Exam in 2023 and in 2024 I will undertake the Mountain Leader Assessment. I’m a qualified skipper with a P5 passenger boat licence and I also have a power boat licence. Along with that, I’m trained in Child Protection and in 1st Aid to a Rescue Emergency Care level 3. Since my Trinity College days, I have over a decade’s worth of clinical experience. My current escapades also include Mountain Irelands’ Rock Climbing Instructors course, an EMT course and training for my 10th Marathon.

With thanks to my superpower of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, I am able to continue on my mission in having as much fun with this adventurous life of mine as possible, while increasing my knowledge and skills for playing outdoors in often extreme, atmospheric locations, I am most grateful that I can continue to make people smile for a living.

www.coismara.com