Possible Extra Summer Bushcraft Skills 1 Course, In Glengarriff/Cork

Next beginner friendly Bushcraft Skills 1 is fully booked. It may be possible to schedule an extra bushcraft course over the summer, midweek, possibly late Jun or early Jul.

 

Get in touch on bushcraftireland@gmail.com if you're interested...

 

Bushcraft Course Details Here 

Lowland Leader Assessment, Lowland Leader Training, Mountain Skills, Bushcraft Skills : All coming up over the summer

Lowland Leader Assessment, Lowland Leader Training, Mountain Skills 1, Bushcraft Skills

All coming up over the summer. Extra dates set; although some still provisional

Details : https://www.outdoorsireland.com/

Contact : bushcraftireland@gmail.com

 

6th - 7th Jun : Bushcraft Skills 1 (Beginner Friendly)

20th - 21st Jun : Mountain Skills 1 (Beginner Friendly)
6th - 7th Jul : Mountain Skills 1 (Beginner Friendly)
27th - 28th Jul : Mountain Skills 1 (Beginner Friendly)

6th - 7th Jul : Lowland Leader Assessment
27th - 28th Jul : Lowland Leader Assessment
29th - 30th Aug : Lowland Leader Training

Oct Dates : Bushcraft Skills 1 (Beginner Friendly)
Oct Dates : Bushcraft Skills Week (Beginner Friendly) 

Sea Kayaking Tours Available, In This Glorious Weather, Across Glengarriff Bay

Sea Kayaking Tours Available, In This Glorious Weather, Across Glengarriff Bay

Get in touch on bushcraftireland@gmail.com or text/whatsapp message 086 8604564

Last Min Upcoming Glengarriff Bay Kayak Trips 

Possible Extra Summer Date For Lowland Leader Assessment; Plus Map Reading-Mountain Skills 1

Lowland Leader Assessment this weekend fully booked. Going through students exam papers and route plans, in some very damp, midgy, rainforest-esque woods, this morning.

It may be possible to schedule an extra assessment date over this summer; either midweek or weekend.
Same for possibly scheduling an extra map reading Mountain Skills 1.

Location Glengarriff/Cork.

Get in touch on bushcraftireland@gmail.com if you'd like to be put on a waiting list 🙂
 

Mountaineering Ireland

Pyramid Fire Lay

Pyramid Fire Lay:

 

The basic pyramid fire lay. Built on a piece of dry wood, to serve as a hot ember base, and keep fire off damp ground initially.

 

You'll see the dry lichen, mixed with pine sap, to get the sparks ignited.

 

The trick with the pyramid lay is get it built quickly, to allow updraft effect, plus dry any dampness from fuel.

 

To increase your fire to camp-size/cooking-size; continue the pyramid lay, but increase wood size...

 

 

Click Here To See Our Bushcraft Training Courses & Survival Training Courses 

 

Rainy Day Cormorant

The rain seemed to make this cormorant especially friendly :)

Guided sea kayaking trip out across Glengarriff Bay...

They are pretty specialized, deep-diving seabirds known for hunting fish by swimming underwater.

They can swim to depths of 45m.

Unlike most seabirds, they have wettable feathers that allow them to sink easily, necessitating their iconic pose of standing with wings outstretched to dry.

A group of cormorants is called a gulp!

Click Here To See Details Of Our Glengarriff Bay Sea Kayaking Tours; Plus Our Bioluminescence Night Kayaking

Lowland Leader Assessments - Cork, Ireland

Our pre-summer Lowland Leader Assessment, is fully booked, however if there's enough interest it may be possible to schedule another for May/Jun (either midweek or weekend), in Glengarriff.

 

Please get in touch to bushcraftireland@gmail.com if you're interested, and also let me know if you can do midweek as well as weekend.

 

Thanks, Nathan 

Roasting Limpets - Bushcraft Training

Needed to practice something for a bushcraft course in May; that's involving sea shore foraging.

Limpets; pretty tasty; usually cooked in hot water, like mussels. But without a pan; what can you do?

1. Heat a stone on a small fire (which also sterilises the stone). 

2. Place limpets onto the stone.

3. Drag some hot embers over the top.

4. Leave roast for 4-10 mins, depending...

5. Clear the embers and eat off the stone.

 

In this case I overcooked them slightly, but still really good 🙂

While mussels are delicious, and we do eat them, limpets can be safer to eat; as they don't filter feed-they graze like a cow; so collect less potential toxins.

Limpets are high protein, have omega 3 fatty acids, and vitamin b12, among other things.

Bushcraft Skills Course This Coming Weekend - Glengarriff/Cork - Places Available

Two places are left available for a beginner friendly Bushcraft Skills 1, next weekend; 25th-26th Apr.

 

Over the weekend, among other things we'll be looking at simple bread making in a dutch oven; making fire from spark, using a pyramid lay; using a kelly kettle to boil water quickly; and of course some foraging for dinner.

Click Here For Details Or To Book

Some Basic Ideas For Being Prepped For The Unforseen

We never necessarily thought we'd see a situation like covid; or in this age of awareness, the atrocities currently happening around the world.

Most recently the impact of a couple days of fuel shortages, and probably a further knock-on effect from this week.

It can be worth asking yourself; how organised and prepared are you to survive simply and comfortably, off grid; for example with no electricity, or no working vehicle; for a week/a fortnight/a month?

Being prepped for off grid living can be a complex and daunting subject. However at a basic level, you could consider one of these things.

1. Have a fortnight of bottled drinking water and non perishable food stocked up. Food can be as simple as pasta/rice/flour/oats, tomato sauce in glass, long shelf life tinned meat such as spam/tuna.

2. Have a simple gas camping stove, with adequate gas supply. Cook a meal on it once a week regardless, so you are comfortable using it. I spent a full year recently cooking every dinner on the small stove in photo 1. It's not that difficult to eat well and healthily with one-pot-meals 🙂
For example, did you know you can cook simple and tasty bread and scones, in a pan?
Don't just wait for the emergency to happen, before tackling the stove.
Yes - as the number of people you're cooking for increases, so does the level of work, but there are things like - pasta/potatoes can cook in their own hot water, sitting on the counter, while the pan of bolognese cooks on the camping stove...

3. Get away from electricity, to some extent.
Photo 2: wood burning stove with a hot top for pans and an oven for baking.
Photo 3: if a wood burning stove is not an option, get a gas cooker, with a couple of gas bottles.

There is much more to prepping, but this can be a simple achievable start.
And really someone in your family unit/friend unit should be well versed in simple, but solid, bushcraft skills.

Upcoming Bushcraft Skills Courses - In Glengarriff, Ireland

I have one place left on a beginner friendly five-day Bushcraft Skills starting 15th Apr; in the wilds of Glengarriff.

 

Two places left on a beginner friendly two-day Bushcraft Skills starting 25th Apr.

 

And two places left on an intermediate three-day Bushcraft/Survival Skills starting 20th May.

 

For Details: info@outdoorsireland.com

Recent Mountain Training In The Caha Mountains

Some recent mountain training shots from the Caha Mountains, West Cork.

Over the coming weeks both a Mountain Skills 1 (map and compass skills) plus Lowland Leader Training are running.

For Details: info@outdoorsireland.com

www.outdoorsireland.com
www.mountaineering.ie

Navigation, Compass, Map-Reading, Steep/Broken-Ground Skills Refresher

Looking for a navigation, compass, map-reading and steep/broken-ground skills refresher?

 

Coming up on the following 4 days, we have that happening, in the West Cork Mountains.

 

Pick and choose from any of the days:

25th, 26th, 28th, 29th March.

 

25th + 28th include a night navigation session

 

More Details info@outdoorsireland.com

 

Mountaineering Ireland

Back On The Bay...

Time to hang up the ice axes, and get back into a summer season of kayaking :)

Yesterday, first kayak trip of 2026 across Glengarriff Bay. Beautiful silver misty conditions. Saw a happy otter and a lonely great northern diver, plus the regular curious harbour seals...

 

Our Killarney Lakes Kayaking plus Glengarriff Bay Sea Kayaking now back in action; with availability most days (although best to book a few days in advance, to be safe)

Lowland Leader Training + Mountain Skills 2 Training Running In Glengarriff, Cork

Here's a handy mountain navigation thing.

Strap a basic watch/stopwatch to your shoulder strap, for the technique of timing.

And on the opposite shoulder strap have 10 toggles, on a cord, for the technique of pacing.

Over the next 2/3 weeks we have two separate Mountain Skills 2 Courses (one midweek, one weekend); and a Lowland Leader Training.

MS2 covers compass skills, night navigation, steep ground skills.

Lowland Leader Training covers the skills (inc some map reading) to lead and guide others on Irish/UK trails, paths, forests, beaches...

More Details: info@outdoorsireland.com

Mountaineering Ireland Accredited Courses

Mountain Skills 1 & Mountain Skills 2 Coming Up In Glengarriff, Cork

Places are available for a beginner friendly map reading and mountain navigation course; Mountain Skills 1; this coming weekend, 14th-15th Mar, in the Glengarriff Mountains of West Cork...
We're probably unlikely to be particularly close to these guys though 😅

If you're looking to get off trail and into the hills and mountains, in a safe and self sufficient way-this is the course to do!

Then followed by Mountain Skills 2; which covers more advanced navigation and map reading, compass skills, route planning, emergency procedures, night navigation and dealing with steep ground.
Dates: 25th-26th Mar  OR  28th-29th Mar.

For Details: info@outdoorsireland.com

Mountaineering Ireland

First Trees To Arrive In Ireland

Our glaciers retreated and melted roughly 12,000 to 10,000 years ago.

Our landscape was initially tundra before developing into woodlands as the climate warmed.

These are the first trees to arrive in Ireland. They were hardy species; and arrived via land bridges, or as wind-blown seeds :)
 

Juniper  (one of the earliest, often colonizing meadows)
Willow  (dwarf willow appeared early, followed by taller willows)
Downy Birch  (key pioneer species that rapidly colonized the landscape)
Hazel  (arrived shortly after the initial pioneers and became dominant 9,000–8,500 years ago)
Scots Pine  (widespread in the west)
Sessile Oak
Pedunculate Oak
Wych Elm  (liked fertile soils)
Alder  (spread later, liked wetlands)
Rowan/Mountain Ash

Interested In Hike Leader / Guide Leader / Lowland Leader Training? Click Here For Details

Winter Mountaineering Scotland

After a great couple of months mountaineering in mostly whiteout conditions; thinking about cornices and avalanches; the sky cleared today,  and got a magnificent 450meter gully route done, up onto this peak - Stob Coire nam Beith, in Glencoe.

I'm purposely bad with my phone, outside of work.

Prefer to enjoy the moment, instead of snapping photos for instagram, so this was the one and only photo from the day!

@Mountaineering Ireland
@Mountain Training

How To Get Into Bushcraft

I was surprised with the level of interest my recent post about an upcoming intermediate/advanced bushcraft course received.

With quite a few people asking, how to get started with bushcraft skills, survival skills, wilderness sufficiently skills...

The answer is pretty straightforward 🙂

Come do a two-day Bushcraft Skills 1 or a five-day Bushcraft Skills Week. Dates happening in April; then throughout this year.

Both courses are totally beginner friendly, mix of female and male, and not much gear needed.

The other option (if you're lucky enough to have a back garden) is make a small firepit and begin experimenting with bushcraft skills and fire cooking.

There are plenty of resources on YouTube, some bad; some good! And get a book like Collins Gem 'Food For Free'.

However ideally, if you have the time and money, start off with a proper bushcraft training course, so get the basics right.

For Details: info@outdoorsireland.com

Bioluminescence Night Kayaking In Glengarriff Bay, West Cork - National Geographic

Bioluminescence Night Kayaking In Glengarriff Bay, West Cork - National Geographic

Delighted with this mention in National Geographic, about our Bioluminescence Night Kayaking in Glengarriff Bay, West Cork: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/night-kayaking-ireland

This is such a beautiful, and awe-inspiring, trip to run - I never get tired of it :)

Thanks @yvonne.gordon and @natgeotravel

Here are those trip details: https://www.outdoorsireland.com/activities/glengarriff-bay-kayak/

Our regular sea kayaking trips in Glengarriff Bay will be running from mid March onward - and these include sunrise trips, daytime trips and sunset trips.

Our bioluminescence night kayaking trips, in Glengarriff Bay, will be running from 1st May (possibly slightly earlier); as soon as the glittering, glowing, shimmering marine plankton bloom :)

Advanced Bushcraft Training Course On The Radar; For Glengarriff, Cork

Advanced Bushcraft Training Course On The Radar; For Glengarriff, Cork

I have been asked to run a 3day or 4day advanced bushcraft course in Glengarriff; over a Wed/Thurs/Fri, most likely.

 

Either Apr/May time, or Sep/Oct time.

 

Challenging days; and assumed you have a decent level of competence from previous experience.

 

The price for this would be €495 per person, inc food.

 

Course content along the lines of:

1. Within our bushcraft area moving, breaking camp, setting camp each day?

2. Mix of hammock/tarp sleeping and shelter sleeping.

3. Different fire lays; including making and using a dakota fire x 2.

4. Different fire making from spark (bark, sap, lichen, grass, punk, dog end, char cloth)

5. Different shelter lays?

6. Different tarp lays?

7. With different food sources provided to you each day; foraging what we can find, to enhance and bulk out those food sources - such as making 1 potato + half-tin of baked beans per person into a decent and nutritious dinner.

8. Dressing and cooking something like a rabbit. Ideally cooking two rabbits; one on a spit and one as a stew - along with foraged items.

9. Recap of different natural cordages.

10. Recap of knife sharpening.

11. Kayaking into the bay to gather three types of worldwide common shellfish (mussel/limpet/whelk) plus some seaweeds, plus possibly edible jellyfish-if we find them. Cooking this up back at camp; plus cooking with seawater.

 

(While the kayaking will eat into the learning time of one of our days; this is the only way we have to access the shellfish and seaweeds - and these are valuable things to know and have done.

 

Anyone interested, please get in touch, info@outdoorsireland.com, and we can figure consensus dates.

Bushcraft Skills + Survival Skills; Coming Up This Spring, In Glengarriff/Cork

Some Bushcraft Skills dates, and Survival Skills dates, coming up this spring, in Glengarriff/Cork.

Places are available to book.

Depending on the course; we'll be covering things like building shelters, hanging hammocks + tarps, foraging, skinning + cooking rabbits, knife sharpening, making emergency snares + fishing lines, making fire from spark, making proper bread/scones/coffee, sterilising water, dakota fire...

Beginner friendly. All food provided. Sleeping outdoors in the woods at night.

15th-19th Apr : Bushcraft Skills Week : 5 Days

25th-26th Apr : Bushcraft Skills 1 : 2 Days

20th-22nd May : Survival Skills 1 : 3 Days

For Details: info@outdoorsireland.com

Gully Climbing

Gully Climbing, looking down from a little safe haven, partway up a Scottish gully.

Seven S & Seven Snippets

Seven S & Seven Snippets:
These are a couple of things we look at on Lowland Leader Training, and other guide training.
The concepts are the same; whether you are guiding in hiking boots, or from a kayak...


Seven S:
Safety
Session
Surround
Skill
Story
Sally
Space

1. Safety (Covered For Safety)

2. Session (Thorough Session Plan, Inc Allowing For Weather)

3. Surround (Every Aspect Of Client Journey Should Be Awesome, Inc Changing/Briefing/Picnic Spot)

4. Skill (Really Well Taught Key Skill, Plus Extra Skill)

5. Story (Really Well Told Story, Plus Extra Story)

6. Sally (Awesome Journey Off Beaten Track/Into Wilderness/Away From Others)

7. Space (Give Client Space/Peace To Discover/Learn/Lead/Teach)

 

Seven Snippets:

Geography / History / Legend / Plant / Animal / Forage/Medicine / Environment/LNT
(Be Tactile /Don't Talk, Do)

 

Click Here For Upcoming Lowland Leader Training & Assessment Courses

The Avalanches Stop For A Day...

Next Available Training Courses - Mountain Skills + Lowland Leader

Looking ahead; here are our next available training courses, running in Glengarriff...

14th - 15th Mar : Mountain Skills 1
18th - 19th Mar : Mountain Skills 1

21st - 22nd Mar : Lowland Leader Training

25th - 26th Mar : Mountain Skills 2
28th - 29th Mar : Mountain Skills 2

Contact Us
 

Thanks, Nathan - Outdoors Ireland 

Kayak Sailing & Camping

Bar doing a sailing exam; plus figuring food and rabbit logistics for multi-day bushcraft courses; the most intense and stressful job I had in 2025 was setting up this sail for my sea kayak.

 

I'm definitely not an engineer!

 

But so worth it, the extra speed and distance you can get is amazing.

 

Brilliant 3 day camping trip to test it out over the holidays...

 

Thank you to Darrens Kayaks who introduced me to kayak sailing, many years ago now!

 

P&H Sea Kayaks

CH Marine