Day 2 - Bracken Bashing on Slieve Gullion

Our main activity today was to clear a path along the historic famine wall from the invasive plant species [bracken] by hitting it with a stick for around four hours. The job itself was extremely tiring, yet still managed be cathartic, oddly satisfying and a great work out; we had several breaks to make up for the lack of energy. We all had our own section to deal with as we continued to move up the mountain however this quickly blended into large groups swinging sticks around mere feet from each other and sometimes even ‘accidentally’ prodding one another. The task was quite rewarding with minimum risk of being hit by a flailing fellow ranger. Clearing the path is very important in maintaining interesting Irish history as this path runs along a famine wall which was created by impoverished Irish people for little food and money [relief works during the Potato Famine]. When we got to the highest point in our journey we were all separated and were allowed sit back, relax and lie down in the heather. We were given two minutes of silence when we could close our eyes, look at the clouds or look at the Irish countryside below; all of which was extremely rewarding after the tiring work.