John Lyne: The doctor with a back pain who climbed mountains

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Hungry Hill on the Beara Peninsula

This is the story of the man who had a back pain and therefore climbed the highest mountain on the Beara Peninsula, Hungry Hill, 1300 times: Dr John Lyne from Castletownbere.

When I’m out and about in Ireland’s mountains in Cork and Kerry, I usually don’t meet anyone for the whole day. I sometimes wonder who would have enjoyed this wild, lonely landscape up here high above the Atlantic as much as I do? Who might have roamed this landscape years and decades ago? What were their activities and motivation? People were not always travelling these mountains just for pleasure.

John Lyne in 2005

I have met some farmers who know the mountain landscapes of West Cork and South Kerry like the back of their hands as they worked there for decades as shepherds – and I have heard about some mountain walking pioneers who climbed these mountains decades ago – simply because they could. One of them, Dr John Lyne, I want to introduce to you today.

The ailments caught him around his 50th birthday: Dr John Lyne, one of Castletownbere’s family doctors, could no longer move because of the pain. The back tormented the doctor so much that he would spend days in bed and could not open his medical practice on the Beara Peninsula in one of the most remote corners of West Cork. John sought advice from colleagues, probably also considered surgery – and then decided to start moving. From 1978 on, when Lyne was 51, the doctor was seen out and about more and more. He now walked almost daily on the Tallon Road at Castletownbere or in Derrymihan. The people of Beara saw and heard their doctor: he liked to whistle merrily as he walked.

Dr. John Lyne and son Henry on the south summit of Hungry Hill

Soon the roads were no longer enough. John Lyne was drawn to the mountains – and one magically attracted him: Hungry Hill. This mighty boulder, resembling an old elephant’s back, with its two peaks, two waterfalls and two glacial lakes halfway up, is the highest mountain on the Beara Peninsula and of the Caha Mountains at 685 metres. Dr Lyne loved this mountain, which has numerous routes of varying difficulty. You can climb it reasonably gently, you can also make it really hard. John knew all the climbs, his favourite being a moderately difficult one from Rossmackowen / Derreen West. He first oriented himself towards the glacial lake and then reached the south summit via the Steps.

John Lyne: once more on the summit

Over time, back therapy had become a passion for exercise. The hiking doctor now expanded his range, climbed Ireland’s highest mountains in the Macgillycuddys Reeks in nearby Kerry, then all the “Munros”, the peaks over 3,000 feet in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. He was drawn to mountain hiking in the Azores and the Faroe Islands, New Zealand and finally in 2009 to Kilimanjaro, Africa. At the age of 70, John had partially retired and hiking became the main content of his days.

Dr Lyne liked the mountains as a sole hiker as with company. He often took people up with him who did not dare to walk alone and often children who have carried on hiking to this day. Even To this day, there are no footpaths and few signposts in the mountains of Cork and Kerry. You have to find your way. Recently, in Rossmackowen, I met a well-toned middle-aged man who, by his own admission, had climbed Hungry Hill 1000 times. We quickly got talking about Dr Lyne, and the walker recalled his first climbs – guided by John Lyne.

On a beauftiful day in mid August in the year 2005 the people of Castletownbere celebrated their hiking doctor for a very special achievement: A large crowd of friends, co-walkers, fans and family members met a the bottom of Hungry Hill to salute “The Conqueror of Hungry Hill” before they took off for John Lyne´s 1000th ascent of his favourite mountain.

1000 times up Hungry Hill: John Lyne with company on his record breaking walk in August 2005

The wandering doctor has led several thousands of people up to the roof of Beara in 35 years, giving them this often mind-expanding experience. He himself climbed Hungry Hill 1300 times. 205 times he arrived at the summit cross of Carrauntoohil (1039 metres), the highest mountain in Ireland. Only Africa’s mightiest peak, Kilimanjaro (5895 metres) he could not summit. At the time of his attempt he was 83 years old, he had to give up at the three quarters mark and yet hoped just even a few days before he died that he would still master the king of the African mountains.

Dr John Lyne with company

Dr John Lyne died unexpectedly – in relatively good health – on 22 February 2012 at the age of 86. He is survived by his wife Marie, daughter Dympna and four sons David, Patrick, Andrew and Henry. A circle of friends together with Vince Power set up a very special memorial to the rambling doctor. High up in the rocky massif of Hungry Hill, the men erected a two-metre high cairn of white quartz stones in John’s memory, exactly on the spot where the man with the healthy back had so often set off for the final climb, with magnificent views over Bere Island and Bantry Bay.

The memorial cairn for Dr John Lyne on Hungry Hill

Thanks to Patrick, Dympna and Henry Lyne for compiling the information about their father and  for the photos.
Photos: Henry & Dympna Lyne; Markus Bäuchle (top and 2nd from bottom)

John Lyne with family, grand children, on his Hungry Hill 1000 jubilee walk on August 15 2005

This story / page is available in: German