My name is Ruth, I’m a leader here at Knockadoon and have been since August 2022. A fun fact is that I was made a leader on my eighteenth birthday. How’s that for a birthday present! Usually on camp you can find me running – whether it’s running around like a headless chicken looking for something I’ve lost (phone, water bottle, you name it), or dashing about with a camera photographing everything for our media team. It’s safe to say I have sore feet by the end of each week. As such, I would like to think I’m a qualified person to write you a guide to all our facilities on camp and the magic we make happen in each one.

The first glimpse of the sparkling blue sea over the rolling green landscape of East Cork as you drive towards Knockadoon is one of the most thrilling feelings you can experience. Each year I love to point it out to new campers as we take the windy rural roads – “that’s it, we’re nearly there!”. Those same roads will take you to camp, where the first thing you’ll see is the back field. The back field is where we hold our sports activities, icebreakers, Takeshi’s castle, and whatever other silly game a leader can concoct. Notably, the back field is where the annual Leader vs. Camper football tournament takes place. It’s arguably the most important event in the Irish sporting calendar.

Beside the back field is the St. Malachy’s bunkhouse – affectionately known as ‘Concretes’. Recently refurbished and updated, Concretes is the biggest bunkhouse on camp and practically the lap of luxury these days. Further down the steps are the other bunkhouses – St. Rose’s, St. Thomas’, St. Albert’s, St. Martin’s, St. Catherine’s and St. Dominic’s. The first three are camper bunkhouses, split by gender and roughly by age. Martin’s is used during the KYW as a leader bunkhouse, and Catherine’s and Dominic’s house the camp staff, the Dominican brothers and some of our senior team. Each has shower and bathroom facilities. Campers are prohibited from entering any bunkhouse that isn’t their own and are supervised at night by two leaders of their own gender.

Campers must leave their cozy bunkhouses each morning for breakfast at 9AM. Yes, I know, I know. I didn’t like the early mornings either and any unfortunate leader who had me as a camper can guarantee that for you. Once you’re down there though, you can look out across the pier at the beautiful sea views and Youghal in the distance. You’ll come to appreciate it by the end of the week and miss it dearly once you’ve left. Inside the dining area – known as ‘The Ref’, campers will have each of their meals. Our chefs are hardworking and super friendly, so we encourage everyone to take a plate. The food is yummy, and any dietary requirements will be catered to if disclosed. Don’t be like me one year and ‘forget’ to say that you’re vegetarian. You’ll thank me.

Attached to the Ref is the leader staff room, prohibited to campers – they might see us cooking up too many silly surprises or even steal our massive stashes of biscuits. Below the staff room is the medical room, where our medical team will look after any cuts and bruises. This is also where campers will go to take everyday medication. Outside the med room is the front of camp, where you will find campers kicking footballs around, making friendship bracelets, chatting with leaders, or taking pictures with all the new friends they’ve made. There’s always lots of fun and laughter happening around here. Another place always busy with activity is just up the steps from here, in the Old Hall.

‘Old Hall’ is a name that perhaps isn’t as fitting as it used to be. It’s also been recently refurbished, complete with a new DJ booth, bathrooms and a shop space for Bank & Shop (Shop & Bank?). Gone are the creaky floorboards and peeling walls, but the level of craic always stays the same. During the day you can find people playing pool, table tennis, twister, chess, jenga, Mario Kart, Just Dance, darts… I think you can get the picture. There’s an almost endless variety of things to do. At night, this is also where we hold our night activities and discos. They’re probably the highlight of everyone’s week, and leaders spend weeks planning for them. They include Bongo’s Bingo, Don’t Forget the Lyrics (a personal fav), the Squiz and Kadstonbury. “What do those bizarre, assorted names mean?” you might ask. I guess you’ll just have to come down to camp to find out.

To balance things out, we also have the New Hall! Built more recently, as the name suggests, we hold some other activities here such as basketball. It’s wide, bright and airy. We also come here each morning before catechesis, which brings me to the church. The camp chapel is beside the Old Hall. It’s intimate, quiet and beautifully lit by candlelight at night. We gather here for Mass on Sundays and it’s a wonderful moment of calm and peace during such a busy week. Campers are prohibited from entering the church alone, but the Dominican brothers are always up for a chat if you’d like to discuss anything with them!

There are some other places that aren’t officially ‘on camp’ but still are a big part of the KYW experience. There’s Knockadoon pier, where campers can go swimming and diving with our lifeguards. On the attached beach, we go crab fishing, or you can even sunbathe if you get lucky with the weather! We often hold our weekly bonfire on the slip here. There are also the stunning cliffs which we walk to several times a week, where you can look out over the waves to Capel Island known to us as ‘Goat Island’ due to the herd of feral goats that reportedly inhabit it. The cliff walk is a huge highlight of the week for both campers and leaders alike. It truly is a view like no other. Note that campers can’t leave camp without at least two leaders, so no solo cliff walks or pier jumps!

So that’s my personal guided tour of Knockadoon camp, arguably the happiest place on earth (sorry Disney). Nothing can replace the feeling of being there, of breathing in the mild morning air or sitting by the crackling bonfire singing along to KAD classics. Whether you’re coming back to camp this year or simply taking a trip down nostalgia lane, I hope this place holds as many special memories for you as it does for me. If you’re coming for the first time, know that you’re so incredibly lucky. It’s one of those places that no amount of words or pretty pictures can replicate, but I certainly tried my best.

See you around!

Ruth 🙂