Waterford Scout County MPC 2007 - De La Salle Scout Group Expedition Series

The 13th Annual County Mountain Pursuit Challenge was based in the Monavullagh (southern) end of the Comeragh Mountains and took place from Friday the 21st to Sunday the 23rd of September 2007. After the fairly nasty weather we had in the Galtees last year, the organisers were confident of fine weather this year and amazingly enough they were not disappointed and were rewarded with one of the few dry weekends of the year. It may have been a little windy but more about that later.

On Friday night the route started not far from Aughatriscar Bridge which is very close to the village of Kilrossanty. Hats off to the ladies from Ferrybank who were able to name all seven of the Leave no Trace principles without a single prompt. It took some prodding to get everyone out of the car park but eventually everyone was on their way up towards Coum Eag. Coum Eag translates literally as the valley of death and why we had chosen such a venue for our thirteenth County MPC would remain a mystery. Most troops managed to follow Paschal's trail of wands and lights but as usual there were a few that just had to veer of course and ended up in a bog (St. Pauls again). Perfectly flat ground was at a premium but eventually everyone managed to find a decent place to camp for the night.

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear and it looked like we were in for a good day in the Comeragh Mountains. The hike was to be a horseshoe and firstly it took us from our base camp at Coum Eag back to the start of the spur of Cuteen South before the tough ascent up on to Farbreaga. Some got there faster than others but for all there were amazing views down to Dungarvan and of the whole Waterford coastline. From there we crossed the Barnamadra Gap to the standing stone where we did some pacing and navigation practice. After that it was head down and on up to the summit of Seefin where we did some feature recognition and map work.

Right in the middle of the Leacanthimlay bog on the edge of Coumtay we were met by Venturers Eoin Kelly and Cian O'hOgartaigh who directed across to the edge of the Coumfea and Coumalocha lakes no doubt in the hope that we would walk over the edge. From there we sneaked back down the ridge to the left of the Coumtay and across the heathery ground and up to the campsite. It was quite an impressive day's walking that everyone got through very well.

Back at the campsite we got the dinner on and best organised cook award went to the lad from the 7th whose mother had even packed a strainer for him, for his pasta. After that we had to write some folk stories for the storytelling event and some examples of these are given below. Strange people. The winners were judged as Hazel Murray and Mark Duffy from the 7th, Sacred Heart, Tramore for their lyrics, Cian from the Venturers, Ferrybank for their might poem and St. Paul's just for the weirdness of it. They all got prizes courtesy of Altitude on Ballybricken in Waterford.

It was cold enough when we went to bed but hadn't got too windy yet. After an hour or two a really strong gale blew up and it was batten down the hatches time for the storm that lasted a few hours. A few leaders who will remain nameless (from the 7th) had their tent collapse but apart from them there wasn't too many casualties. Hats off to Cian for rescuing the survival bag from the top of the cliff the next morning. The next morning we took our usual group photo and gave the place a thorough clean up before heading back to the car park. Sadly/thankfully there wasn't enough water for the duck race. It had been another very successful County MPC - where to for number 14 in 2008?

Above: The contingent from the Waterford Scout County on the 2007 County MPC.
Click to view a larger image.

Once upon a time there was eight people going on a hike in a place called Death Hill. The only thing was that it was the 13th time anyone had gone up death hill and the number 13 was a really unlucky number for them. On the way up the tyres of the bus burst. One leader got out to check the damage and five minutes later he was gone. The scouts got off the bus and they had gone about 200 metres when the other leader told them to stop. Suddenly the bus blew up killing the last leader and one of the kids. There was five kids left and they had no other idea but to walk. They were walking for about 5 hours when they got to bog land. 2 kids fell into the bog and they drowned. 3 kids left. They filled up their water bottles in a river beside a cliff. 1 kid got blown off the side of the cliff. The last 2 kids ran for their life. 1 of them fell down a hole and was never seen again. The last one standing got into a nearby town and got out alive. I was the lucky one. The one that will never go hiking up death hill again.

Around this time in every year when the moon is high and the night is clear,
A magic portal appears they say between Coumfea and high Coumtay.

When last I saw it, I was still young, when the Puca howled and the Banshee sung.
I recall they were seated on two huge stones and scattered around them were human bones!

"It won't be long", the Puca said, "till all those smelly scouts are dead"
"I'll wench them from their tents tonight, and swallow them all in a single bite".

The banshee cackled, then she cried, "I'd much prefer them boiled or fried",
"I'll stew them in my cooking pot and then I'll gobble up the lot!"

But lightning flashed and thunder rolled and who would appear all daring and bold?
It was Baden Powell, the Chief of Scouts! who turned the creatures with a mighty shout.

"I was on officer once in the British Army, but these Waterford scouts are flippin barmy.
"With their ropes they'll tie you up in knots, then you'll end up in their cooking pots".

A mighty battle then began which BP won with a turn of his hand.
He gave his scouting stave a whirl and drove the demons from this world.

So if you're ever on an MPC keep your eyes well peeled and you might just see,
The place where BP saved the day between Coumfea and high Coumtay.

A Short Reflection by Ruairi O'hOgartaigh of the 3rd De La Salle
(No Prize Awarded)

The Ghost of Brian (In Death Valley)
By Mark Nugent, David Heart, Danien Crowley from Tramore Scouts.

There once was a scout called Brian.
On the Trangia he couldn't stop frying.
During the storm,
He couldn't keep warm,
So he gathered some turf,
And into the tent he went.

With a strike of a match,
The turf wouldn't catch,
So meths he put on it,
And another strike of a match,
And oh boy did it catch,
So he went up with a flame,
And the leaders got the blame,
But that was the end of Brian
In the valley of death.

I got water from the stream today. A tent nearly tripped me. I saw a rabbit today. The End.

It was Friday the 21st and the Sacred Heart scouts were going up the Comeraghs for the weekend. They decided to get a bus up but something went wrong. The bus broke down so we had to walk but luckily for us Paulers drove in with the van and took our bags and dropped them off but he came back for us. What a legend! It turned dark pretty fast so we tried to get supper done as quickly as we could. We had Pot Noodles. Yummy! We got to bed at around 11pm. Yes we were tired! Everyone was asleep except for Ruth who noticed we had forgotten the food and all of us had left our hoodys up in the den. Ruth woke eveyone up by singing Umbrella. We all woke up and asked what's up like? We were wrecked. She said we forgot everything lyk. Our jumpers and our food. All we brought was our supper which we ate tonight. And I'm cold to top it all off. So we decided just to go asleep and we will fix it in the morning. I woke up during the night. I had to go pee. And suddenly I stepped out of the tent and I walked into a bush like feature and a heard a Baaagh. I was like haha it's a sheep. So I stepped to the left. Another Baaagh. Stepped to the right, another Baaagh. Ok at this stage I was a bit scared so I just jumped back into our tent to wake up the lads. Luke said OMG! I'm going outside you're taking up all the room. So Luke went out and we heard an ahhhhhh! We all ran out to see what the commotion was. Luke was Dead! (Pause). We woke up the girls, now they take about 30 minutes to get out of the tent especially Ruth, god that girl takes about an hour to get out. So Alice and Katie were out and alive. The sheep were gone but so was Ruth. Katie (Ruth's cousin) was so worried. She ran out. Bang! She fell and all she heard was a Moooo! The cows ate her. She was gone! It was only Conor, Alice and me left. Wow were we scared! Then suddenly the sheep were back. Then out of nowhere the cows and the sheep started to fight. There was 100 sheep vs 50 cows. The cows and the sheep were dieing rapidly. There was one cow land 6 sheep left. Me, Shane, Alice and Conor ran up to kill them. We kilt them and we got Alice to make us jumpers and we cooked the cows. And we lived happily ever after until... On the way home we crashed. They all died except for me. Until... Mike Myers, you know the scary guy from Halloween. Yeh him, he popped up and killed me. I bet you're wondering how I'm writing this and I'm dead? Well that's because it's not me. It's Michael Myers. The End.

The origin of the valley’s name (By Unknown)

It is the 22^nd of September, 300 years ago to the day since they named this valley Coum Eag, the Valley of Death. But why did they do it? It was following the great massacre of Kilrossanty and the rising of the great standing stone on Farbreaga. On that cold dewy morning, September the 22^nd, Cromwell’s soldiers were after the Irish rebel army and had caught up with them near Mahon Falls but then lost them. But the rebels had hidden in a lost coum in the Comeraghs. As nightfall approached someone lit a small fire in the valley to keep away the biting cold and its light was quickly seen from afar by Cromwell’s soldiers. They surrounded the coum and charged down the gullies, slaughtering the forty five brave Irish warriors. Their heads they cut off so that their souls could not pass to the spirit world as was their belief at that time. They buried their bodies in the floor of the valley right where we are camped tonight and the heads they cast into the lake at Coumtay. From that day to this, on the 22^nd of September, the headless bodies arise from their graves amongst the reeds in the valley and it is said that they go and wander in search of their heads. From the day of the slaughter the valley was known by all the locals as the Valley of Death or Coum Eag in the old tongue. The locals shun it and won’t come near. No birds will fly over it and any sheep that wander in become weak, twisted and die. So be careful at night if you date to camp at Coum Eag, the Valley of Death.

Photos by Colm Ennis and Robert Windle.
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