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The Club History

In 1977 the late Tony O Brien, his wife Janet and Pat Brennan decided it was time to put their regular Sunday outings to the mountains on a more formal basis and so the Peaks Climbing Club was formed. The name was later changed to the Peaks Mountaineering Club. Members gathered at the Main Guard in the centre of Clonmel on a Sunday morning.

Shortly afterwards Tony introduced the club to Eldons Bar in Dillon Street. We hit it off and have had a very happy relationship since!

There is a long tradition of hillwalking in Clonmel dating back to an earlier, very active, An Oige club. Hillwalking required a much greater level of commitment back then than it does now. Motor transport was in short supply, cycling was the normal mode of transport to the hills. Imagine a ten or fifteen miles cycle home after six or seven hours on the mountain. Breathable waterproofs, decent boots, fleece, in fact all the gear we take for granted today didn't exist then. A trip to Wales or Scotland was a major undertaking, there weren't any high speed ferries and air transport was only for the well to do.

In 2007 the club celebrated its thirtieth birthday and to mark the occasion a presentation of a sculpture of bog oak was made to the Eldon family. We are very grateful to the Eldon family for their very generous hospitality and support for the past thirty years.