3ROC Orienteering News 14 February 2019

This weekend sees the last Dublin by Night event at St Anne’s Park, Raheny, on Saturday, and the launch of a new urban orienteering map of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary on Sunday. St Anne’s, once the home of Lord Ardilaun, of the Guinness family, is a nice area to finish off the DBN series, with a combination of playing fields, forest and tricky contours. Details here. Start times 6.30 to 7.15; two courses (2.7 km and 5.4 km) at All Saints’ Road. You’ll be using small controls chained to trees, and old-style punch cards, so it’s a kind of Retr-O event.

Clonmel, bisected by the River Suir, has route-choice galore, plus some small lanes and old buildings to navigate around. It’s a new map and forms part of a Waterford Orienteers series of urban O-maps including Carlow, Kilmacthomas, Kilkenny and Waterford City. See details here. In contrast to the Saturday night event, WatO are going to the other extreme with technology, using SI-Air contactless controls, so bring your SIAC timing chip if you have one, and save a few precious seconds on the course! Note that start times are 10 am to 12 midday.

The Leinster League returns on Sunday 24th February with Setanta’s event at Ballyward, near Manor Kilbride, Co. Wicklow. Details will be on the IOA Forum in the days leading up to the event.

A Pseud-O map of Clonmel (from OpenStreet Map).

Congratulations to Mary O’Connell who has been co-opted as Chairperson of the IOA Executive Committee, filling a vacancy which has been there since the 2018 AGM. Mary was a previous Chair and Treasurer of IOA and was also involved in an IOA Governance group in the past year.

Remember, you can renew your 3ROC membership online here and avail of the benefits of club membership – reduced entry fees at events, eligibility to run competitively in Irish Championships, receive training and instruction in orienteering, arrange transport to events more easily, make new friends, and more!