PAT FALVEY EXPLORER,ADVENTURERAUTHOR,

Pat Falvey’s story reads something like a movie script.

It all started with his first business at six years of age, selling second hand clothes with his grandmother. She’s a woman that to this day he speaks very fondly of saying “she gave me the confidence and encouragement to believe I could do or be anything I wanted in life”.

At 15, his father’s business had failed and times were very tough. Pat left school to become a millionaire, the goal was to ensure his family would never fall in to the same hardships again. He started work as a bricklayer.

By the age of 20 Pat had achieved his goal. A big house, flashy cars and no financial worries. There is a saying in Ireland that goes a little like “he has more money than sense” and after acquiring so much wealth at such a young age, Pat, self-admittingly got too big for his boots and made some bad decisions.

“I thought I had the Midas touch, the truth is I didn’t even know who Midas was, the ego had gotten the better of me and just shy of my 30th birthday, I had managed to lose it all, I went broke.”

The impact of everything getting swept from underneath him was devastating. He lost his self-esteem, fell into depression and ultimately tried to take his own life.

On the advice of a friend, Pat was encouraged to take up hillwalking as a form of therapy. In 1986 he did his first ascent of Ireland’s highest mountain, Carrauntoohil. He was so excited that on the same day he professed he was going to climb Mt. Everest. Well, the rest is history!

Since then, his life has taken an extraordinary trajectory, both as an explorer but also as an entrepreneur, life coach and motivational speaker.

With a renewed outlook and focus, but with the same drive, ambition and self-belief that was instilled into him by his grandmother all those years ago, Pat set up his world-renowned adventure business; Irish and Worldwide Adventures, where he now leads treks and expeditions in Kerry and around the world.

Since then, he has climbed Ireland’s highest mountain - Carrauntoohil over 3,000 times, led over 185 international expeditions and treks around the world. In fact, Pat was the first person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest from both the north and south side, including the seven summits (the highest point on each of the world’s seven continents) twice.

He has walked the South Pole in honour of his hero Tom Crean and has skied across Greenland and Norway, all the time endeavouring to find out the attributes of pushing oneself to their limits. Such is the dangers associated with many of these expeditions, Pat is keen to remember the 40+ friends who have died on these type of expeditions. While the physical challenge has always been important to him, Pat always sought answers to the bigger and more philosophical questions on his travels. Over his lifetime as an explorer Pat has worked and lived with 32 tribes of people, trying to understand what has driven man since the evolution of our species. When he is not leading treks here in Ireland and around the world, Pat is busy with pen and paper writing books and making films. He is the author of seven books, including his most recent memoir, The Accidental Rebel Pat’s last film, The Summit, has been viewed by over 70 million people around the world and he is currently in talks with production companies about the next projects. If you are fond of adventure and have a love for the great outdoors, it’s hard not to stand back in awe of all that he has overcome and achieved. His life experiences are visible from the books he has written and on the walls of his mountain lodge in Beaufort, heroic pictures of a life dedicated to exploration. The Lodge, strictly only open to clients, is a treasure trove of adventure memorabilia from Pat’s adventures all over the world, but visitors come for that unrivalled experience and knowledge that he shares with secondto-none enthusiasm.

The mountain lodge in Beaufort is the ideal base for exploring the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks and is the reason why so many people choose to stay with him when visiting Kerry. “We have everything from truck drivers to presidents come through our doors,” Pat explains. “I have been up Carrauntoohil 3,000 times. While training for Everest I would go up and down three times in a day. It is my favourite place in the world.” www.patfalvey.com

As a motivational speaker, Falvey shares his experiences and encourages people to pursue their dreams. He is a world renowned inspirational speaker and has spoken at international corporate conferences and schools, inspiring audiences with his stories of determination and perseverance. He also runs a Team Build training company that helps teams communicate to work together effectively. One of Pat’s newest ventures is the Forever Young Club – a 50 PLUS Community which empowers members to develop active, healthy, sustainable lifestyles. These projects have led to another strand of his operation and The Lodge is now very much a retreat centre as it is a base for climbing. If you are looking for a truly unique and possibly life-changing experience while in Killarney, we recommend you get in touch with Pat!

Kingdom Waves Surf School

Kingdom Waves Surf School runs surf lessons and surf hire at Inch and Banna Beach, two beautiful ‘Blue Flag’ beaches surrounded by the Kerry Mountains and both are popular stops on the Wild Atlantic Way. Beauty aside, the consistency of the surf make both beaches an ideal place to take a surf lesson. We also rent/hire surfboards and wetsuits at both Inch and Banna Beach so as long as you know what you are doing you are welcome to rent a surfboard and wetsuit from our large stock of boards. We have all different shapes and sizes! Inch and Banna Beach are around a 40min drive from Killarney.

Gap Of Dunloe Traditional Boat Tours

A mini adventure for young and old through Ireland’s Lake District.

You can travel by boat through the majestic Lakes of Killarney and the National Park, during which you can enjoy the huge natural oak woodlands of the Upper Lake and the Old Weir Bridge, where the boat may be able to ‘shoot the rapids’. This leads you to the Meeting of the Waters, where the three lakes join, then under the Toothache Bridge into the Middle Lake, where you can see Torc Mountain and the Colleen Bawn Rock. You may be lucky on the day to catch a glimpse of the White Tailed Eagles soaring over the mountains, go under the Brickeen Bridge and into the Lower Lake where you can see Innisfallen Island, and in the distance Ross Castle – an ancient seat of the O’Donoghue Clan, where the tour finishes.

T: +353 (0)87 269 4646

E: info@gapofdunloetraditionalboattours.com www.gapofdunloetraditionalboattours.com

EIRCODE: V93 V304

T: +35387 744 7958

E: tom@kingdomwaves.com www.kingdomwaves.com

EIRCODE: V92 F348

Joe O’Leary and Kevin Leahy are names synonymous with mountain running all over the world. Both are world pacesetters in their chosen disciplines and while they may have followed different career paths on their way to success, they share one common denominator: they began their adrenalinefilled careers in the Killarney hinterland. Killarney National Park is a natural playground for a trail runner, and while O’Leary and Leahy operate on the extreme levels of the sport, there is something for the beginner taking their first tentative steps in the world of offroad running or those looking for the bigger challenges.

O’Leary was a member of a four-person Kerry team that finished fourth in the six-day Adventure Racing World Championship in Gallaecia in 2022.

The 2021 World Championship was the most mountainous, the longest and the most technical edition of that race, covering 600km across three of the four provinces of Gallicia and passing near to the Portuguese border.

Sounds intimidating, but it is all part of a day’s work for O’Leary. Any man who grew up on the foothills of the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks will, surely, have the confidence to take on the most difficult races in the world.

Locally, adventure racers are spoiled for choice with several events each year to suit all abilities and tastes.

The Kerry Way Ultra, held each September, is probably one of the most daunting races of its kind in Ireland. A 200km route from Killarney to the tip of the Iveragh Peninsula near Waterville and back, is tackled non-stop! The race gets underway at 6am on a Friday morning with the first runners due back almost 48 hours later.

The main event is only open to experienced trail runners but shorter 60km, 100km and relay races can also be entered by less experienced competitors.

Kevin Leahy is a past winner of the Yukon Arctic Ultra – billed as the world’s coldest and toughest race - where temperatures can dip as low as -50°C.

If that was not enough, 10 days after his Canadian success he tackled the Lapland Arctic Ultra, a race “through Europe’s last wilderness”, a 500km epic that crosses the Arctic Circle several times.

How does he prepare for such challenges?

“I have been practising on the bogs near Kilcummin by pulling old Jeep tyres behind me,” he said just before his Canadian adventure.

If trail running is too much too soon, Kerry Orienteers run at least one event a month all over the county, but the majority are organised on courses within Killarney National Park. The club also runs introduction days and organises several street events during the year too – now that’s a different way to explore Killarney.

At the other end of the scale sits the Quest Series of multi-activity one-day adventure races. 500 adventurers compete in the Killarney race, making it the largest adventure race in the world.

There are five different routes including a 70km and 60km professional race, and a 27km sport event. Athletes trek the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks and Mangerton Mountain, before cycling The Gap of Dunloe, Black Valley and Killarney National Park, finishing with a kayak race on Muckross Lake.