Dermot Somers
Encyclopedia
Dermot Somers is an Irish
mountaineer
, explorer, writer
, and broadcaster
. He was educated in the Irish-speaking Coláiste Mhuire
, Dublin, and graduated from University College Dublin
with a BA and HDipEd, and worked for a time as a teacher, before concentrating full-time on writing, broadcasting, and travelling. He now lives in Drogheda
.
(The Ramp), Fair Head
(An Gobán Saor, Fáth mo Bhuartha), Muckross Head
, and Tormore in Co. Sligo. In 1983, he became the first Irishman to have climbed the six great north faces of the Alps
. He participated in Irish expeditions to Himalayan peaks Changtse
in 1987, Manaslu
in 1991, and Everest in 1993. He has also climbed in the Andes
and other greater ranges
.
and English
, documenting his travels, and also volumes of fictional short stories. His publications include:
He has written and presented several programmes and series for radio and television, covering themes of mountaineering and exploration and Irish landscape and folklore. The television productions were mostly commissioned by RTÉ
and TG4
and produced by John Murray of Crossing The Line Films. The productions include:
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
mountaineer
Mountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...
, explorer, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
. He was educated in the Irish-speaking Coláiste Mhuire
Coláiste Mhuire
Coláiste Mhuire, which is part of the Marino Institute of Education , is a primary teacher training college which is affiliated with Trinity College, Dublin. It is located on Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9. Coláiste Mhuire is primarily focused on providing for pre-service primary education...
, Dublin, and graduated from University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
with a BA and HDipEd, and worked for a time as a teacher, before concentrating full-time on writing, broadcasting, and travelling. He now lives in Drogheda
Drogheda
Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, 56 km north of Dublin. It is the last bridging point on the River Boyne before it enters the Irish Sea....
.
Climbing career
Somers started climbing in 1974 at the age of 27, and became one of the leading rock-climbers in Ireland in the 1970s, establishing significant new routes in areas such as AilladieAilladie
thumb|right|300px|The middle sectors of Ailladie. On the left is the Aran Wall sector, with several climbs in the E2-E5 grade range. To the right is the inset Mirror Wall, with many climbs in the E4-E6 range...
(The Ramp), Fair Head
Fair Head
Fair Head is a rocky headland at the north-eastern corner of Northern Ireland, in County Antrim. It lies 3 miles east of Ballycastle town, and is the closest part of the mainland to Rathlin Island...
(An Gobán Saor, Fáth mo Bhuartha), Muckross Head
Muckross Head
Muckross Head is a small peninsula about 10 km west of Killybegs, Co. Donegal, in north-western Ireland. It contains a popular rock-climbing area, noted for its unusual horizontally layered structure.- Overview :...
, and Tormore in Co. Sligo. In 1983, he became the first Irishman to have climbed the six great north faces of the Alps
Great north faces of the Alps
In mountaineering, the six great north faces of the Alps are known for their difficulty and great height. They are:*Cima Grande di Lavaredo*Eiger*Grandes Jorasses*Matterhorn*Petit Dru*Piz Badile...
. He participated in Irish expeditions to Himalayan peaks Changtse
Changtse
Changtse is a mountain situated between the Main Rongbuk and East Rongbuk Glaciers in Tibet immediately north of Mount Everest. It is connected to Mount Everest via the North Col....
in 1987, Manaslu
Manaslu
Manaslu , also known as Kutang) is the eighth highest mountain in the world, and is located in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal. Its name, which means "Mountain of the Spirit", comes from the Sanskrit word Manasa, meaning "intellect" or "soul"...
in 1991, and Everest in 1993. He has also climbed in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
and other greater ranges
Greater Ranges
The Greater Ranges comprise the high mountain ranges of Asia:*the Himalayas,*the Karakoram,*the Hindu Kush and Hindu Raj,*the Pamir Mountains,*the Tien Shan,*the Kunlun Shan,...
.
Writing and broadcasting
He has written several books in both IrishIrish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, documenting his travels, and also volumes of fictional short stories. His publications include:
- Nightfall, a short story about a climb of the EigerEigerThe Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m...
Nordwand at the outbreak of World War 3, in the short-lived The Irish Climber magazine (MCI, 1983) - Mountains and Other Ghosts, a collection of short stories. (Diadem Books, 1990) ISBN 0-906371-48-1, ISBN 0-906371-68-6
- At the Rising of the Moon, a collection of short stories, which won the 1994 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain LiteratureBoardman Tasker Prize for Mountain LiteratureThe Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature is an annual prize of £3000 awarded by the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust to an author or authors for 'an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature.' It was established in memory of Peter Boardman and Joe...
and the Culture and Environment Award at the 1994 Banff Mountain Book FestivalBanff Mountain Book FestivalThe Banff Mountain Book Festival is an annual book festival held at the Banff Centre in Banff, Canada.The following prizes are awarded:*Grand Prize of Canada*Best Book — Mountain Literature*Best Book — Mountain Image*Best Book — Adventure Travel...
http://www.banffcentre.ca/cfa/events/2002/10.htm. (Baton Wicks, Collins Press, 1994) ISBN 0-906371-14-7, ISBN 0-906371-64-3, ISBN 1-898573-05-0, ISBN 1-898256-07-1 - Rince ar na Ballaí, accounts of Somers's mountaineering and exploration adventures. which won the Oireachtas Award for Literature. (Cois Life, 2002 http://coislife.ie/books/prosebooks/rince2.htm) ISBN 1-901176-33-9
- Collected Short Stories, an amalgamation of Mountains and Other Ghosts and At the Rising of the Moon. (Baton Wicks, 2004) ISBN 1-898573-50-6
- Endurance: Heroic Journeys in Ireland, a collection of epic journeys from Irish history and mythology. (O'Brien Press, 2005 http://www.obrien.ie/book553.cfm) ISBN 0-86278-797-1
- Buaic, a mountaineering novel. (Cois Life, 2006 http://coislife.ie/books/prosebooks/buaic2.htm) ISBN 1-901176-66-5
- Ar Muir is ar Sliabh, a novel (Cois Life, 2009 http://coislife.ie/books/prosebooks/sliabh2.htm) ISBN 978-1-901176-97-1
He has written and presented several programmes and series for radio and television, covering themes of mountaineering and exploration and Irish landscape and folklore. The television productions were mostly commissioned by RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
and TG4
TG4
TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....
and produced by John Murray of Crossing The Line Films. The productions include:
- Cuairt na Cruinne (Above the Clouds), which featured Dermot climbing with various guests, on the Eiger, Mount KenyaMount KenyaMount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian , Nelion and Point Lenana . Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around north-northeast of the capital Nairobi...
, NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Yosemite, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. The Eiger episode won the Best Documentary award at the 1998 Celtic Film & TV Festival. - An Bealach Ó Dheas (Wild Ireland), a series which featured Dermot walking the length of Ireland from Malin HeadMalin HeadMalin Head , on the Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal, is usually given as the most northerly headland of the mainland of Ireland . In fact, the most northerly point is actually a headland named Banba's Crown on the Inishowen Peninsula about 2 km to the northeast...
to Mizen HeadMizen HeadMizen Head , is located at the extremity of a peninsula in the district of Carbery in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of the extreme points of the island of Ireland and is a major tourist attraction, noted for its dramatic cliff scenery...
, exploring interesting places along the way. http://ctlfilms.com/p1/productions/wild%20ireland.htm - Turas Feasa, a series which had Dermot following seven great Irish walks. http://ctlfilms.com/p1/productions/turas%20feasa.htm
- Turas Tréadacha (Great Nomadic Journeys), a series of films with Dermot joining local nomads on some of the world's great nomadic journeys, including SiberiaSiberiaSiberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
(2001), the SaharaSaharaThe Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
(2002), IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
(An Bealach in Airde) (2004) http://tnag.ie/Bearla/Corp/raitis/eana15.htm, and NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
(Bealach an tSalainn is an Yak) (2008). - Friends in High Places, a radio series featuring Somers climbing and walking and talking with various well-known guests, including politician Martin McGuinnessMartin McGuinnessJames Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....
and former champion cyclist and now mountaineer Sé O'HanlonSé O'HanlonSéamus "Sé" O'Hanlon also known as Shay O'Hanlon is a former Irish amateur road racing cyclist. He was a top amateur in Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s, winning the Rás Tailteann stage race in 1962, 1965, 1966 and 1967...
. http://www.rte.ie/radio1/friendsinhighplaces/ - On the Trail of the Táin, a radio series about Táin Bó CuailngeTáin Bó Cúailngeis a legendary tale from early Irish literature, often considered an epic, although it is written primarily in prose rather than verse. It tells of a war against Ulster by the Connacht queen Medb and her husband Ailill, who intend to steal the stud bull Donn Cuailnge, opposed only by the teenage...
(2004) http://www.rte.ie/radio1/onthetrailofthetain/1018167.html