Mayo
(31st March 2004)

After months of waiting, and much negotiating with involved parties, CASA was back on track when we undertook our trip to Mayo. When the CASA was in its prime, way back over a year ago, the mayo stone was going to be collected on top of Croagh Patrick. The week before we were due to go, we decided that mayo should be the place to head for. We decided to leave at around 11 in the morning, but as usual, things didn't work out that way.

For some unusual reason, I was the only one of us that managed to get up for a lecture at 9am. I forget what we did Tuesday night, I think we were in the davin and the girl's house. Colm and Paul didn't bother getting up, neither did JP. Dave did though but he had an interview. I did manage the class, although it was as boring as watching paint dry, and after it, I headed home and waited for the rest of the lads to pull the finger out.

By 12 o'clock, we were just about ready to head away. Our first port of call was Spar, where Paul got some grub. Next stop was petrol and thirdly we picked up Dave. After a slight problem with putting on seat belts, we headed for the lofty heights of Mayo.

Colm planned our journey out as he was sitting in the front, and he had the map. I knew the way to Gort, which was easy. After that was the problem. Colm pointed us in the direction of Athenry, where we stopped and ate some of Dave's crisps. I also had a piss. We were only 60 miles from home at this stage. Once back in the car, Dave decided it was time to pull out the laptop and himself and Paul had a game of pro evolution. I think Dave won. After that, Dave decided to show some porn. I was very disappointed as I was driving, but once I heard some interesting noises coming from the laptop, my hormones took over and the car was stopped, I jumped out and had a quick look. I was very satisfied after watching some girl on girl action. I got back in and started driving again.

We eventually arrived in Westport around 3ish. We look for signs to point us towards Croagh Patrick, but they were few and far between. We drove along the coast road, and after about 10 minutes we reached the foot of Croagh Patrick. We parked the car in the car park, and I went for a piss. When I came back to the car, I had a look up at the mountain, all 2,510 foot of it. Climbing it didn't look all that tough from the bottom. I definitely didn't think it was as high before I left Limerick. Still, we were there now and it was gonna be climbed, eventually.

After packing some stuff into Dave's bag, we began the climb. After about 5 minutes or so, we were tired, at least I was and Dave, Paul, mentioned it too and I'm sure JP was feeling a bit tired too. Dave left off his bag behind a wall and we continued the climb. Another 5 or 10 minutes passed, and Dave was totally fucked. He decided that he had enough and so he headed back down. I was a bit jealous really cos I was feeling fucked too, and we were only about 20% of the way up. Paul and Colm decided to head away at their own pace. I was fine with that because I'd never be able to keep pace. JP stuck with me. Thanks JP.

Myself and JP walked/climbed for a while, then took a little break. In fact, we took lots of little breaks. By 5.40, myself and JP got to near the top. We took another little break, and we admired the view. The wind up there was shocking, it was at least 80mph. It was unreal. My hair got all tossed. Once we got up after our little break, we climbed upwards again. Within seconds, we saw the church that was built up there. Apparently it was built way back in 1905, and al the materials were brought up by horse or donkey! The poor animals. Anyway, once I seen the church, myself and JP sprinted up to it. We sang a little song as well. I was so relieved to be finally at the top. I was really thirsty, and typically enough, there was no water up there. We met Paul and Colm again. We had a little chat, I think JP wanted to make a little love but we weren't having that. We collected our stones, took a few pictures and began our descent to sea level.

The trip down was a terrifying experience. The stones under our feet kept moving with us, and if you made one wrong step you either fell or started running. Running on the side of this place is not a good idea. The soles of my runners were shredded on the way down from the sharp stones. After falling/running for a while, we had a little break and a chat. Colm took a few pictures on the way down as well. We kept heading towards the car, and after about 30 or so minutes of heading downhill we reached the car. Dave greeted us there. After a few minutes of standing around, we climbed into the car and headed back to Westport.

We were all fairly hungry, except Dave, and we stopped in the square in Westport. We parked the car and headed for a bank to get some money. Once we were flush with money, we headed to Dunning's bar in the square. We sat at a table, looked at a menu and after a while we had grub in front of us. Paul and Colm were fighting over a few chips while we ate, and I was watching Ireland play the Czech Republic on TV. The grub was lovely, and the pint I had was fairly sweet too. At around half time of the match we started back for Limerick.

Dave was showing Colm and JP porn for most of the trip home. It was a fairly uneventful trip for most of the way. JP and Dave were playing some sort of naming celebrity game for most of the way. Paul was the lad giving directions on the way home. We got to Athenry where I was hoping we could stop for a drink or for sweets or something. Unfortunately, everywhere was closed so we headed closer to home. On our way into Gort however, we spotted a filling station that was open. We went in and bought some stuff. I went for a piss in someone's gateway as well. I went back to the car where Paul and Dave were. Colm and JP were out near the road, about 20 yards from the car. After a couple of minutes, I spotted the gardai in my mirror. I wasn't sure what they wanted, maybe they seen me doing around 70 coming into the town. They chatted to JP and Colm for a while before they drove up to the car.
"Where ye boys coming from?" was the first question.
"Croagh Patrick" I said, trying not to laugh.
I was hoping they wouldn't ask what we were doing up there. We'd be all arrested and be sent to the mental hospital if we told them we were collecting a stone!! After a few more questions, they went away, and we had a right laugh about the situation after they had gone.

On the road back from Gort, JP and Dave continued they're celebrity game. As we neared Limerick it was declared that the winner of the game was whoever named the celebrity last before we stopped. Coming up to Dave's house, it looked like he'd win, but JP pulled one out of the fire and Dave responded as we stopped. Hence Dave won. After dropping Dave home, we headed to our place and by 12 midnight, we were all in bed.
Overall the Mayo trip as part of CASA was quiet enjoyable. I recommend anyone to try climb Croagh Patrick, but be well prepared for it because it isn't easy. All going well there will be another CASA trip in the near future. But by the looks of things, it won't be till our exams are finished in May.

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