Killary Adventure

Killary Adventure Co was the brainchild of Jamie & Mary Young, both of whom had travelled extensively before visiting the unique Killary Harbour in 1979 & deciding to settle here Jamie participated in the 1976 single handed race to America & then the Young's spent their honeymoon sailing to America in a 26' boat designed for single handed sailing. In 1979 they once again took to the water spending a year working on the famous 80' ocean racing yacht Ondine. Little Killary Adventure Centre opened its doors in 1981, growing to become a market leader in the field of Adventure holidays, and Summer camps. Ciara, Shane & Kim were all born at Killary, growing up in Connemara being an adventure for them all. As a natural development of the business, Killary Corporate was born, running its first corporate training course in 1984. Killary Tours also evolved in the 80's, filling a need for inbound Irish adventure tours both for the hardy and the seekers of 'soft' adventure. 1990 saw the finish of the extensive renovations at Killary Lodge, an old Country House dating back to 1830. Situated on its own 30 acres of land, with two beaches and a pier, Guests relaxed amid the stunning setting and ambience of the Lodge and its services or ventured forth on one of the many activities available locally. Killary lodge operated as a thriving business until 2006 when it was sold and now operates as a youth hostel. The new millennium came and with it some dynamic changes to Killary - a sad goodbye to Little Killary Adventure Centre which had served us so well for 20 years and a big welcome for Killary Adventure Co. looking after all the adventure business & K2, our brand new budget centre built on the main Leenane/Clifden road - nestled into the hills, with a spectacular view out over Killary Harbour to Inishturk Island, offering a wide range of adventure activities, including summer camps for 8 to18 year olds. In 2003 Killary adventure Co. expanded into the Stag and Hen activity weekend market with Irish Stags and Hens. This division offers inclusive packages to those stag and hen parties who are looking to do something a little different for their final weekend! In 2006 Killary Tours expanded to include BudgetSki.ie a company offering all inclusive ski and snowboarding holidays to the French Alps. In 2008 BudgetSurf.ie was launched offering surfing and kite surfing holidays to France, Portugal and the Canary Islands. Over the ensuing years, as well as expanding the business Jamie has found time for other challenges! He led the first Irish Kayak Expedition to circum- navigate Cape Horn in South America, was a team member of the South Aris expedition which re-enacted Shackleton's famous adventure in the Antarctic and in 2003 he and one other attempted to traverse from the South Pole to Patriot Hills by kite buggy! Never a man to stand still in 2006 Jamie developed the concept of Gaelforce West Adventure Race. The race ran for the first time in August 2006 in association with Failte Ireland. Now in its 4 th year it see's 2,500 competitors take to the Galway and Mayo hills to complete the 65km course.