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A group river tubing in the River Awbeg at the Blackwater Outdoor Activities.

When the construction industry collapsed, rather than hopping on a plane to work in another part of the world, brothers Brian and Conor McCarthy started their own mobile kayaking business and now three years later, they boast one of the most impressive activity centres in the country.

Blackwater Outdoor Activities in Castletownroche, came about after the owner of the castle, Patrick Nordstrom approached the brothers to see if they would be interested in being part of life at the castle and since then, they have adapted and changed what they offer to suit current demands.

“Many people from Castletownroche and surrounding areas would only get to see the river from the bridges, but with kayaking and now river tubing, they get to experience the river as they travel through it.

“In recent years, the castle would have been used mainly for private functions and weddings, but now the public can get to see the rich historical and cultural heritage at the castle, while trying out activities that they may not otherwise encounter.

“The relationship between the castle owners and ourselves is very good, it’s mutually beneficial in that they would see a big uptake in their business in line with ours,” Brian told The Avondhu.

He added that they employ up to 14 people seasonally in peak season, but many of the staff members would have been in the construction industry and they build a lot of the installations themselves, to ensure that things like the zip line and climbing wall blend in with the natural surroundings instead of tainting them.

“We haven’t spoiled the place by having big neon signs, it’s all very natural, not intruding on the natural landscape. Most zip lines go over green field sites off ESB poles, but ours are in the wilderness taking you from tree to tree over and back across the river valley.

“Most people who go on them say they are unrivalled. They are about 19 meters above the river with participants going about as fast as Usain Bolt. Anyone that goes across the first zip line will come back on the second one with a smile on their face,” Brian continued, explaining that they are “constantly changing to let the centre grow and this year they added in a new climbing wall, leap of faith and giant’s swing, which was tried out by Bressie on his recent visit.”

Brian said that they get all kinds of groups, from school children who are there for a day to large groups who would stay up to a week trying out everything that they have to offer. Much of their business would come from school tours, residential stays, corporate do’s, stag, hen and wedding parties.

He added that they only ever take on one group at a time, so that they have exclusive use of the centre, and it also means that people don’t have to wait around while another group finishes up.

With things like archery, river tubing, high ropes, zorbing, giant swing, climbing wall, orienteering, kayaking, zip lining, camping, survival skills and team building, Blackwater Outdoor Activities is on the few places in Ireland to offer all of these in the one place and their online reviews speak volumes for the experience they offer, as people describe them as the caviare of adventure centres, say they would definitely come back and can’t praise the staff enough.

Speaking about how well the business is going, Brian said that they had 4,000 visitors last year and they would hope to see that grow to up to 7,000 this year and eventually, they hope to be able to open all year round.

“The booking diary every year is filling up quicker with less free days and our next day off with weekends included is towards the end of July.

“We’re open for bookings all year round, we don’t open to any set hours, we are here for bookings and we do get enquiries from small groups so we hold open days once a month for small groups, individuals and couples and the only way we can cater for them is to group them together.

“We constantly adapt and change things to make sure that we are getting everything right,” Brian concluded.

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