Killary

Account of a new Trainee!

Killary was our first diving weekend away and also to be where I would experience my first dive!

I was quite nervous with the prospect of my first dive, but I think I was very lucky because I got Peadar to lead me! I don’t think I will ever forget my first dive, I think I was smiling from ear to ear the whole time, or laughing because of Peadar making jokes continuously. It was super to dive with Peadar for my first dive, I loved every minute and won’t ever forget it!

As rumour has it, some trainee’s in the past had not had such luck …
I had heard so much about diving from Jamie and all the places he had gone to and how much he loved it, that I had to try this for myself. Coming from South Africa and growing up right next to the see, I will say it took some convincing to get me in the water in February to start all the training. By the time Killary came I was getting better at convincing myself to get into the water!

On my last dive of the weekend when I had to do all my tricks, John O Connor took me out! He had his new underwater camera with him and was playing around with it, he made me hold my first “spider crab” while taking a picture. I felt obliged seeing that he had his camera, but I can assure you otherwise I would of just looked not touched the “Funny looking crab”. Although I am very proud of that picture now!
I realised that to dive, you also had to have a vast amount of energy left after your dives to be able to have a few drinks and a few more!!! (to discuss all the diving done in the day … of course!).

I met a whole bunch of new people and enjoyed every minute of it. All of us that trained together really had a super time and I think most of us could not wait for our next weekend away!

Riandi Crais

A not so new trainees’ account of our weekend in Killary.

I originally joined the Curragh in 1998, and coincidentally had my First trainee weekend in that year was spent in Killary. For the rest of that year I had been very active and was due to do my two star when family circumstances dictated that I had to go to South Africa. I ended up spending over seven months there, gaining Riandi and unfortunately losing diving. The one thing I hadn’t lost however was the passion that diving held for me. When I moved back to Ireland, I had always intended to return to diving but felt a lot of time had passed and every one else had moved on. Consequently I put it on the long finger. I often talked to Riandi about it and think that I gave her the bug. I truly felt returning again as a trainee and going through the whole process again with the same people for a second time very off putting. I also didn’t know how everyone would react to me after so long. Indeed at one stage I considered just joining another club.

All that changed with a meeting, in of all places, in the sauna in a gym in Leopardstown with a mister Holland. We ended up talking about diving and it turned out that he was in the Curragh. We ended chatting for a while about the diving and the people and the Craic, and that was it my mind was made up. I was going back. The next week Riandi and i went to the pool session in Stillorgan, and I was meant to feel like I had never left. My old diving buddy, Aidan, as the training officer!

When I found out the trainee weekend was going to be in Killary, I couldn’t help but laugh. As I have already pointed out, Killary was where I had spent my trainee week-end(the first one that is). To see Riandi and the other trainees as excited as I had been a few years previously was fantastic. Having spent my first year sharing a house in the village with Elvis (his first performance in the Curragh), Nick and Helen among others, I decide this time to do it in style and so we checked in with Peadar, Irene, ken and Brian in the Renvyle House.

If someone had said that I would enjoy killary as much the second time round as the first, I would have just laughed. The fact is I enjoyed it more. The highlight for me, apart from the pub that is, was going for a dive with Irene. Irene had been such an influence in my early diving, and to dive with her again after so long was a real treat.

Peadar as usual provided his unique kind of leadership that we all thoroughly enjoyed, along with Louise who led me brilliantly! Making Killary into a really excellent reintroduction to the Curragh and Diving.