Dunbrody Archers
A Brief! History of Dunbrody Archers
Dunbrody Archers was formed in October 2004 and came about through meeting people in New Ross who were interested in having a go at archery but didn’t know where to go. We arranged a meeting and out of this came the commitment to form a club and to look for a hall in which to get started. Ballykelly Hall was quickly found and permission obtained from Father Sinnott to use it for archery.
From this small start our
membership
increased rapidly, although some must have thought I was off my head
when I described field archery to them. What, go round some woods
shooting at pictures of animals? He’s cracked!! Having
managed to
persuade two or three brave souls to join me at a shoot with Blue
Arrows Field Archery club they were quickly hooked and a wood of our
own to shoot in became a priority. With the help and permission of
Quilte a wood was obtained in May 2005 near Dranagh Mountain and
seven simple targets laid out so that the rest of the members could
experience what we were talking about.
With our numbers increasing
and
interest throughout the other archers in the country wanting to shoot
a new course, we fixed a date in October 2005 to hold our inaugural
open shoot in the woods. A lot of work was involved but many hands
make light work and we quickly had a 14 target course up and running,
ready for the arrival of our peers. ((link to shoot report??)) Most
found it very challenging (how far is that target?!) but on the
second time around did start to enjoy it. The course has now been
increased to 31 targets and laid out to International Field Archery
Association (IFAA) specifications making it challenging but enjoyable
with archers far and near attempting to conquer it. We are now
preparing to hold the Irish Bowhunter Championships at the end of
July (see link) and look forward to welcoming a large number of
archers from all over the country.
We have gone from strength
to strength
since the open shoot with numbers steadily increasing, 27 in July
2005, and the standard of archery improving rapidly. As a club we
regularly attend other shoots throughout the country in good numbers
with a good number of rating gains and shoot wins to our credit. Two
of our members are flying out to Portugal to compete in the European
Bowhunter Championships from 10th-15th
July
2006 and we wish them the best of luck. A number of us are also
getting organised to go to the World and European Championships in
Switzerland July 2007 and hope to give a good showing.
If you would like to have a
go at this
fascinating pastime please do not hesitate to contact
us and we would
be glad to have you along for a go.