About the Galtee Walking Club

Our club has been in existence since 2003 and was founded by a core group of hill walking enthusiasts from around the foothills of the Galtee mountains and the Glen of Aherlow in South Tipperary. Since then, it has grown and diversified and now has a membership drawn from a wide area. We offer a number of different graded walks on a regular weekly basis throughout the year which are available to new members or to those wishing to join us for an introductory hike.
Our category A walks are for advanced hill walkers and are the most challenging, taking in 5 -7 hours on open mountain and forest track. The B walks are also for experienced walkers but of shorter duration, generally 4 hours and more moderately paced. And for those wishing to develop their hill walking skills, we offer category C walks which are of approximately two hours duration, mostly on forest track.
Weekly walks take place on Sundays from September to June and on Wednesday evenings throughout the Summer. Walks are mostly located in the Galtee, Knockmealdown and Comeragh mountains as well as Slievenamon and the Ballyhoura range. We also have weekends away at home and trips overseas as well as offering a full complement of walks for the annual Glen of Aherlow Winter Walking festival.
In addition, the club offers two major annual challenges starting with our Palm Sunday Marathon and culminating in the 10 hour Galtee Challenge (entire range) at the end of June.
The club is a full member of Mountaineering Ireland.

The Club's Beginnings

Danny Bailey and Larry Joy leading the first Galtee Walking Club walk on a cold Sunday, February 2nd, 2003.
The walk on Slievenamuck started from Christ the King Statue at 2pm.

The Club started from the vision of three people who were members of Aherlow Fáilte, Billy Kingston, Helen Morrissey and Mandy Parslow. Their ideas were put forward at a meeting in O'Heneys in Bansha on January 21st 2003 with an attendance of 65 people. Plans were made with great expectation and excitement which resulted in a committee being formed and the birth of Galtee Walking Club. Our first walk was on February 2nd 2003 from Christ the King Statue, Aherlow. The leader was club chairman, Larry Joy.
The first club officers and committee were as follows:
Chairman:     Larry Joy, Emly        
Secretary:     Noel Gubbins, Thomastown    
Treasurer:     Breda Ryan, Tipperary    
P.R.O.:         Nora Ó Murchú, Ballyglass   
Committee members:
Noel Gubbins, Thomastown,
Matt Ryan, Bansha
Larry Joy, Emly
Billy O Donnell, Emly
Margaret Magner, Bansha
Jerry Morrissey, Bansha
Josephine Tierney, Kilshane
Noel McGrath, Emly
Nora Ó Murchú, Ballyglass
Mary O’Brien, Tipperary Town
Rody Tierney, Kilshane
Mary White, Golden
Breda Ryan, Ballinleenty, Tipperary
Pat Ryan, Ballinleenty, Tipperary
Owen Ryan, Reddans Walk, Tipperary
Mandy Parslow, Glen of Aherlow
Mary Kavanagh, Bansha
Jerry White, Bansha
A copy of the report on the first meeting can be seen here.