Fingal News 2014 - 2015

The next Fingal event is a Night Orienteering Event at the ALSAA sports complex by Dublin Airport. It is on Saturday Evening, Jan 30th. Starts from 6.00 PM until about 7.30 PM. There will be a long and a short course. Showers will be available afterwards and refreshments in the bar.

Happy New Year to all Fingal members

Thanks to everyone in the club for successful year in 2015.  Highlights of the past year were a very enjoyable training weekend in November (in spite of the weather) and a good trip to the Scottish 6-day and world championships in August. By all accounts it was one of the most notable world championships and the most successful 6-day. 

We introduced 3 new maps this year, Battle of the Boyne, Tyrelstown, and Skerries. It is very encouraging that 4 people, Tommy, Ciaran, and Roy, as well as myself, were involved in producing the maps.

We ran 10 events in the year, 2 league events, the 4 scatter league events, the family relay, 2 local events in Meath in June, and a summer evening event.  This I believe is more than any other Leinster club. Running events is the core activity of the club and of course our principle source of revenue. Thanks to all you stalwart helpers for your tremendous volunteering effort in ensuring all the events went off to our usual high standard and without any significant problems.

On the competitive front while our usual reliable prizewinner, Jean, was out of action for much of the year, we still had some prizewinners in the Irish and Provincial championships. Congratulations to all, not just the prizewinners, but all who represented the club at major events. One to note for the future is Sinead Young who was first W10 at several events.

Looking forward to 2016, the highlights of the year are expected to be the Irish Championships in Waterford and the Leinster 3-Day in Wicklow.  While Fingal aren't directly involved in running any of the days of the 3-day club members are contributing, especially Sarah who is the overall event coordinator.  Please support her when she requests assistance.  

We will again have our own events throughout the year. The first is also on a new map of ALSAA, at the airport, a night event, on the 30th of Jan. Come along if you can, and enjoy a drink in the bar afterwards. Our first league event will follow soon afterwards, on Feb 28th in Castletown.   This will be followed by our summer events, the scatter league, and the autumn Leinster League event. Please volunteer to help at an event if you can. Also remember we will be running the Irish Championship in 2018 and preparations will start to build.

Hopefully we will have some other activities in the year.  Some members are going to the World Masters in Estonia where they will join the club founder, Frank Flood, who is now Irish ambassador to Estonia, and is enjoying orienteering there in his spare time. We will plan another training weekend in the Autumn. Also it has been suggested that we could have training days locally on a Saturday. Please feel free to suggest any activities you would like to see.

The most important thing is that you get out orienteering, and that you enjoy it. Here's wishing you all happy and successful orienteering in 2016.

<- Hard at work on the quiz, while we took a break from outdoor training.

We had a very enjoyable weekend in Sligo/North Roscommon last weekend, training at Lough Key forest park using the permanent courses and the Wheel-O controls, then taking in Sligo Orienteer's event at Strandhill on Sunday. Despite grim forecasts, we had some clear weather on Saturday morning and Sunday was wild and windy at Strandhill with some very heavy rain and hail showers. Everyone enjoyed the weekend, including the newer members and the juniors.

Thanks to everyone who came to our league event at Carnawaddy. The day was really nice and most people were complimentary on the courses. Thanks to Ian for planning and Chris for organising, both first timers in those roles for a league event. Thanks to Hugh Cashell of CNOC for controlling, and Shane Lynch of Cork O (who lives in Dundalk) for assisting with identifying control sites and putting out controls.

You are all very welcome to Fingal Orienteers' Leinster League Event , on Sunday 22 November, at Carnawaddy Mountain in Co. Louth. Carnawaddy mountain has been used for championship events to SHI standard in the past. Offering an open mountainside with path networks and intricate crag detail at the higher elevations, we are sure you will enjoy this beautiful location.

Courses offered are yellow, red, orange, light green, green, blue and brown so there should be something for everyone! Timing and scoring will be via SI. Competitors with personal SI cards are recommended to ensure their SI details are correct on the national database

Rental SI cards will be available on the day. As this is largely open mountain in mid-winter there will likely be a requirement for cagoules/rain jackets & whistles to be carried; this will be enforced at the start. Parking will be available at THIS link

Registration will be at the same location and the start should be a taped climb of approx 75m, taking approx 10-15 mins walk. There is no pre-entry although we ask that any large groups contact the organiser in advance to ensure sufficient maps are available.

Signposting will be available from the M1 Dundalk North exit , thence via R173 to Jenkinstown/Bellurgan Service Station, then via signposted roads to Carnawaddy. Parking will be tight so please obey volunteer parking marshals. We hope to see you there from North and South, on what should be a great day's orienteering.

For further updates and amendments see the IOA events forum all updates will be posted there. Please like and share our Facebook page & subscribe to our club events here !!!

Planner : Ian Murphy

Controller : Hugh Cashell

Organiser : Chris Slattery.

The club training weekend will also take place in the Sligo / Roscommon area on 28th/29th November. Training on Saturday will be in Lough Key forest oark, then we'll take in the Sligo event in Lisadell on Sunday. Let Anyta know if you are interested in attending.

Results of the Malahide event are on orienteering.ie

Thanks to everyone who came out to support our Scatter League events this year.

Final Scatter League Results best 3 of 4 events

Thanks to the planners of this year's events, Alex, Tommy, Ciaran, and Eamon. Thanks to Bernie for doing registration at all 4 events, and Anyta for providing tea and coffee and other refreshments. Thanks to all other helpers, Gabby, Chris, Eileen, Ian, and Jean.

Welcome to our new club members, the Motherway Maldonado family, John, Laura, Alba, and Liam.

Results of the Skerries event are on orienteering.ie

Next Sunday's event, 20th Sept, is in Malahide Castle Demesne, North Co. Dublin. Registration and start are at the car park on the left just inside the main gate. The main gate is on the back road, at the south side of the demesne, the opposite side from Malahide Village. Registration is from 11.00 until 12.00, then all courses start at 12.00.
There are 3 courses available
LONG will have to obtain all 20 controls, in any order.
MEDIUM will obtain any 14 controls in any order
SHORT any 8 in any order.

Prizegiving for the league will be after the event, as soon as possible after 13.30

Scatter League Results after three events
Please let us know of any discrepencies.

Results of the Battle of the Boyne event are on orienteering.ie

Next Sunday's event, 13th Sept, is in Skerries, North Co. Dublin. Registration and start are at Skerries Mills. The race combines parks and streets around Skerries.

Registration is from 11am with the mass start at 12noon.

There will be 20 controls and 3 course options.
LONG will have to obtain all 20, in any order.
MEDIUM will obtain any 15 controls in any order
SHORT any 8 in any order.

Entry fees are Adults €5, Juniors €3 and Families €12
The registration tent and start position will be in the car park for Skerries Mills, GPS Coordinates 53.57442, -6.10600
Skerries Mills, which is a collection two windmills and a watermill with associated mill pond, mill races and wetlands are kindly allowing us to run through their grounds, entry/exit will only be through two gates, indicated on the map, that will be manned for the duration of the event.
Toilets are available in the reception of the Mill, there is a café too where soup and a sandwich can be enjoyed for €7.

Directions. From Dublin, follow R127 into Skerries, at roundabout after railway bridge, turn right, follow road to crossroads, turn left. Skerries Mills is then the 2nd left. Signposts will be from the roundabout at the railway bridge.

Results of the Santry event are on orienteering.ie

Next Sunday's event is at the Battle of the Boyne site, Oldcastle, Co. Meath, near Drogheda

The Fingal Scatter series returns again this August/September. The events are as follows

Santry Demesne, Santry, North Dublin, Sunday August 30th.

Battle of the Boyne site, Oldbridge Co. Meath (near Drogheda) Sunday Sept 6th

Skerries Mills, Skerries, North Co Dublin, Sunday Sept 13th

Malahide Castle Demesne, North Co Dublin, Sunday Sept 20th

These events are suitable for everyone, especially those new to orienteering. As in previous years there will be 3 courses at each event, a Long, Medium, and Short. Registration will be from 11.00 until 12.00, with all courses starting at 12.00. All runners start each course at the same time. For these events controls can be visited in any order. The normal formula is that the Long course runners need to get 20 controls, the Medium course, 12 to 15 controls, and the Short course 6 to 10 controls. The actual number will be stated at each event on the day.

6 members of Fingal attended the Scottish 6-day event. It was a great event with over 6000 competitors and some great areas around Inverness. As well as taking part we got to watch the World Championship races and cheer on the Irish team. Val, Tommy, Anyta, Gabrielle, and Dave pictured here on the final day in Glen Afric with the Fingal flag. Jean was also at the event. Anyta broke her Fibula on the 3rd day, hopefully she will recover quickly

Tyrrelstown results

Thanks to all who came to our event in Tyrelstown. Some of the top orienteers were very complimentary on the urban sprint map and the course. The numbers at the event weren't great, just less than 50, which was probably due to the weather. We had some heavy showers initially then the rain became persistent after 8 o'clock. Not too many locals took part but at least we were visible in the town center. and around the streets.

A meeting was held in the Carlton Hotel afterwards. However only 4 attended. Main discussion was on the Scatter events. The events are Santry Aug 30th, Battle of the Boyne / Oldbridge Sept 6th, Skerries, Sept 13, Malahide Sept 20th. Also discussed was next year's Leinster 3-Day, for which Sarah has agreed to be event coordinator. We will support the event in every way we can.

Some club members are travelling to Scotland to the World Championships and Scottish 6-day. The events will be tough but we will be hoping for good weather.

All clear for next Tuesday Evenings event in Tyrrelstown, Tuesday 7th July.

Course details

Long 4.5 K, 15 controls

Short 2.3 K, 9 controls

Tyrrelstown is a new urban sprint map of mainly streets and open areas, with just some small wooded sections. We will be using SportIdent for timing. The controls will be chained to lampposts, fences, trees and other items that they can be secured to. There will be an orienteering flag attached but it may be on the ground.

Start times will be from about 6.00 PM until about 7.30 PM. Registration, start, and finish will be in the Tyrrelstown town center, outside O'Neills pub (which is closed). There is parking in front and to the rear.

You can also get Dublin Bus 40D to Tyrrelstown

Exit the N3 at the Blanchardstown shopping Center, cross over the N3, then follow the roadsigns for Tyrrelstown past the Blanchardstown Institute of Technology.

Dalgan Park results

See our Facebook page for photos - Fingal Orienteers

We had another great event in Dalgan Park with plenty of local people including many families and children. It's great to introduce them to orienteering in a location like this. Thanks to Kathryn for doing pretty much all of the work to put on the event, and for having us back to her house afterwards. Thanks also to the Columban Fathers for allowing to use the venue.

Battle of the Boyne results

Great weather for our debut event at the Battle of the Boyne site / Oldbridge estate. Thanks to all who came, we hope you enjoyed the event. We will have another event there in September. We are greatful to the management of the center who encouraged us to map the estate, and it was great to see our old club treasurer, Gerry Smyth, in fine form. He works as a guide at the estate. Thanks to Tommy for mapping and planning, and to all the other club members who helped out.

The Newbridge House full results by course are here - Course Results

The Relay results are here - Relay Results

Congratulations to the winning Shorts team, and to the winning family team, the Tyners. They also deserved a prize for the best team name. Thanks to all who came on a fine day in Newbridge House. A bit disappointing that more didn't do the relay, including families who were there. It's a fun event and we enjoyed putting it on. However it takes a lot of setting up beforehand so we'll have to reconsider next year if it's not going to be supported.

The Fingal Family relay takes place this Sunday, April 26th at Newbridge House Demesne, Donabate, Co Dublin. The relay will consist of Long Medium and Short legs. Any three people can form a team, you don't have to be from the same family although it is a challange to see who can field the best family team. Last year the Shorts won, the year before the Mays. Come and register early as it's limited to 20 teams. There will also be 3 individual course available on the day, suitable for all ages and levels of experience.

Long 6.7K, Medium 4.1K, Short 2.1K

Registration will open at 11.00, and individuals can start after 11.00. The relay 1st leg runners will start at 12.00.

For Newbridge House exit the M1 at the Donabate / North Swords junction and follow the signs for Newbridge House.

Congratulations to the Fingal prize winners at the Leinster Championships last Sunday at Lough Firrib / Oakwood. 1st W10, Sinead Young, 1st W35 Sarah Ni Ruairc, Val Jones 1st M60, Jean O'Neill 2nd W65, Kathryn Walley 3rd W55, Sinead Kearns 2nd W12, 1st W45 Eileen Young

Also congratulations to Fingal Leinster League prize winners. Eileen Young 1st W on Green, Per Olov Elovsson 2nd on Light Green, Daragh Young 3rd on Yellow, and Sinead Young 2nd W on Yellow.

Results from Cahore are now on orienteering.ie

Thanks to all who came, everyone seemed to enjoy the courses and the weather wasn't bad at all while the event was in progress. This is the second year running (Rossmore last Feb) that a dire Met Eireann forcast put people off traveling but conditions during the event were fine.

Thanks to the Fingal club stalwarts for helping out, Ian for organising, John Casey of WatO for controlling, Bernie, Anyta, Gabriel, Sarah, Tommy, Alex, Dave, Chris, Jean, and Ciaran.

I had a feeling this event was jinxed, first the dead oak disease and storm damage in Castlemorris, and failure to contact the forester. After switching to Cahore I was sick and couldn't tag sites, then John was sick and couldn't check them. Then the bad forecast for the day obviously put some people off travelling. But the event went off on the day with no major hickup.

Leinster League 8 Cahore Wexford, Sunday, Feb 22nd

Online Entry available - Click here

Entry fees - Adults €8 Students, juniors €5 Families €20.

Courses are suitable for all levels of experience and fitness. All are welcome.

Course Details are as follows

Starts from 11.00 until 13.00, courses close at 15.00

Directions - take the M/N 11 south towards Wexford. Take exit 23, then follow the R742 towards Courtown. Coming into Courtown take a right turn signposted for Riverchapel. Follow the R742 through Ballygarret, then take a left turn sigposted for Old Bawn about 1 Kilometer past Ballygarret.

Cahore South Beach is open sanddunes, the location of the 2013 Leinster Championships. See the LOC 2013 for details of that event.

We were saddened to hear of the death of Mick Kellet over the Christmas period. Many members of Fingal attended his funeral. Mick was very well known in orienteering, mountain running, mountaineering, climbing, and mountain rescue circles and many tributes have been paid to him elsewhere. We would just add that Mick was a good supporter of Fingal and helped us in many ways, including mapping River Valley for us. Jean was a particularly good friend of his and they went on several trips abroad to the World Masters and other events. His presence and wit will be missed. May he rest in peace.

Thanks to all who came to our league event in Virginia, Co. Cavan. We had a lovely sunny dry day, and everyone complemented the courses and the forest. Thank to the scout groups who attended, from Virgina, Cavan, and Navan. Some of the local scouts thought they knew the forest and wanted to do the Brown course, but we persuaded them to do the red. Hopefully we will update the map again and it won't be another 7 years before we have an event in Virginia again.

Click here for Virginia Results

Thanks to Tommy for Planning, Dave for controlling, joint organisers Bernie and Sarah, Ciaran and Chris for SI, and the other helpers Anyta, Alex, Gabrielle, Jean, Kathryn, Val, and Ian.

Controller's report from Dave.

Virginia Course Details are as follows

Starts from 11.00 until 13.00, courses close at 15.00

Directions - Virginia is on the N3 Dublin Cavan Road. In Virginia take the Ballyjamesduff road, the left fork at the west end of the main street. Then take a left turn signposted for the rugby club. Parking is at the rugby club. If there is no room at the rugby club then park in the estate on the other side of the Ballyjamesduff road.

The forest has matured since the last event 7 years ago and not much felling has taken place. However it is a midlands forest and there are some areas of brambles, so gators are advised.

Fingal 2014 Scatter League

Final 2014 Scatter League tables here

Thank you all again for supporting the 2014 Fingal scatter League. We certainly can't complain about the weather this year. We've had a really good September and beautiful sunny days for all four events. We hoped you all enjoyed the food and the prizegiving at the final event in Malahide. Congratulations to all prizewinners. Well done in particular to the Fingal girls who dominated most of the female categories. We'll be expecting great things in the Leinster League and other events further afield during the year.

Thanks to all who came to our first three events. We have had great weather at all, hopefully it will last. Apologies for running out of maps at Ardgillan, we got a much bigger crowd than expected. I think everyone on the short course managed to form groups and share maps.

The scatter league returns this year, starting Sunday 31st August. There are 4 events, as follows

As in previous years there will be 3 courses at each event, a Long, Medium, and Short. Registration will be from 11.00 until 12.00, with all courses starting at 12.00. All runners start each course at the same time. For these events controls can be visited in any order. The normal formual is that the Long course runners need to get 18 controls, the Medium course, 12 to 14 controls, and the Short course 6 to 8 controls. The actual number will be stated at each event on the day.

The final event is at Malahide Castle, this Sunday, 21st Sept. There will be prizes as soon as possible after the event for each course. 3 of the 4 events must be completed to be in with a chance of winning a prize.

League Table After 3 Events

Malahide Castle Location

NB - car park on left inside main gate.

To get to Malahide Castle from Dublin or the M50 follow the signs to Malahide. Take a right about 1 mile before Malahide, when you reach the castle grounds, then the main entrance is on the left. Coming from Swords or the North take the road from Swords to Malahide, turn right at the end, when the castle grounds is in front of you, then take a left and the entrance is on the left.

Applewood Street/Sprint O Event Results here

Nice summer evening for a fast Sprint event around the streets of Castleview and Applewood. Luckily there was only one short shower just before the event started. Thanks to Jean for planning, Ciaran, Ray, Ian, Roy, and Kathryn for helping. Bringing an event to the streets gave us visibility in the community and we were delighted to have groups of local kids come and take part.

The next Fingal event is an evening Sprint/Street event in Applewood, North Swords. It is on Tuesday, July 8th, starts from 6.00 PM until about 7.30. Assembly and registration will be on Glen Ellen Road Extension, at the entrance to Castleview. There will be 2 courses available, Long 4K and Short 2.5K. Entry €7 Adults, €4 juniors/students/oaps. Everyone is welcome. The event is suitable for everyone and doesn't cross any busy roads. The courses follow the streets around Applewood and Castleview estates. We will be using SportIdent for punching and timing. If you don't have a SportIdent card you can rent one for €2. It is not a scatter event, so controls must be punched in the correct sequence.
Directions - from the M1 exit at junction 4 Swords/Donabate and turn left towards Swords. At the first roundabout go right. At the traffic lights at the fire station turn right. At the next traffic lights turn left onto Glen Ellen Road and follow it to registration.

Dublin Bus number 41C or the Swords Express will bring you closest to the registration. Any 41 will bring you to Swords.

Grid Reference O 169 482, Latitude 53.47101, Longtitude -6.23832

For more information email valjone@gmail.com or phone Jean at 086 0559509 / 01 8405448 or Val at 087 6901156 / 01 8452386.

Thanks to all who came to our event on Sunday June 22nd in Dalgan Park, Co Meath. We had a very nice warm sunny day, perfect for a run in the park. Nearly 70 people took part, most were families and juniors from the Meath area, many new to orienteering. We hope they enjoyed it and are encouraged to come again. Results are here
Thanks to Kathryn for planning and organising the event, and to Tommy, Ciaran, Val, Dave, Anyta, and Brenno. And also the Kearns family for collecting controls. for helping.

Location

<- Eileen starting into the Logh Firrib mist.

Congratulations to all Fingal prizewinners at the Irish Championships. Congratulations also to Setanta on a most memorable event. Fingal prizewinners were Ciaran Kearns 1st M14 Sprint, Donal Kearns 3rd M18 Sprint, Ingus Rektins 3rd M45 Sprint, Eileen Young 1st W45 Sprint. Sara Ní Ruairc 1st W21L Middle, Sean Kearns 1st M21S Long, Ingus Rektins 1st M45 Long, Val Jones 3rd (1st Irish) M55 Long, Sinead Young 2nd W10 Long, and the Fin Jazz team of Ingus Rektins, Val Jones, and Dave Richardson, 3rd in the H18 Relay class. The day of the Long Distance event was one of the most challenging orienteering events ever, with ~10 meters visibility in the mist around Lough Firrib.

More Photos Here

Thanks to all who came to the Family relay event in Malahide. Results are here

We had a fine day and everyone enjoyed the event and the courses planned by Dave. The Long course including a butterfly loop certainly made the best of Malahide. Thanks to Dave for planning, Ian for controlling, Bernie for organising, and the rest of the stalwart helpers, Val, Tommy, Anyta, Gabrielle, Alex, Ciaran, Sarah, and Eileen. We are getting good at running relays and will probably do it again next year. The Shorts had their A team out this year to win the relay, las year's winners, the Mays, didn't make an appearance.