At 10am we reached the base of Croagh Patrick. We officially began our climb at 10:30. We all were flying it – for the first ten minutes! It became a lot harder, with the steep sides and pathway of broken rock. Soon, some people fell behind. We all decided to take it at our own pace, which was good for the first-timers! At the middle of the climb, we wanted to give up but we found the strength to continue. We were all doing the climb for different reasons, some students are hoping to travel to Zambia next Summer, and so used the trip as an opportunity to fund-raise for the AIDS orphanages in Kaoma, Zambia. Other students used the trip as part of their John Paul II awards and our Italian and Spanish students enjoyed experiencing another part of Ireland. After three hours of excruciating, hard work, everyone made it to the summit and a sense of achievement was felt by all. We celebrated mass and afterwards spent time admiring the beautiful views of Clew Bay and Clare Island the surrounded us. Just when we thought the hard part was over, had to turn around and walk back down again. This was a lot more difficult than we imagined it would be as the extremely steep slope was covered in loose, broken rock which made it almost impossible to walk on. We eventually made it down at 4pm and took a short trip to Westport, where some students went for a swim. We then began the long journey home. Yet again, Fr. Liam’s singing entertained us all and we had a wonderful time. I’ll never forget my experience, and not only did we all have a great time, but it was also for a great cause, which makes the blistering feet and aching muscles all worthwhile.