About Hillwalk Ireland*                                                                                

James Byrne grew up on a farm in Kilkenny in the South-East of Ireland. After studying Business and French in university, he spent nine months in Quebec teaching English.

There followed a brief flirtation with journalism. This ended when he noticed that using his press pass to gain free entry to sports events was proving more enjoyable than actually reporting on them.

Hiking trips in Malaysia, New Zealand and South America reignited a dormant passion for the great outdoors. Upon arriving back to Ireland, James tried to re-adapt to office work but only lasted three months before he quit his job, bought a new bike and went cycling around Europe.

When he got to Slovenia he turned around and started to consider what to do when he returned to Ireland. Try as he might, nothing sprang to mind. So, as soon as he got home, he got into his car and drove around Ireland looking for inspiration.

One morning, watching the sun rise over the Beara Peninsula, an idea began to form. Before him was a scene as spectacular as anything he had seen on all his travels.

Enticing visitors to come and experience Ireland's unique natural beauty suddenly seemed like the most obvious thing in the world...

...And so Hillwalk Ireland was born.