Charles Barrington 150^th Anniversary Celebrated

Photo L-R Rear:

Jill Barrington, Mayor Manni Schlaeppi, Stephen & Ron Barrington, Cllr. John Byrne, Cllr. David Grant, Eugene Finnegan (Bray Chamber of Commerce), Christine Flood (Town Clerk)

L-R Front: Cllr. Caroline Burrell, Manni (Museum Curator), Toni Buamann (Grindelwald Tourism) & Marco Bomio (Mountain Guide) all wearing the Mountain Gear of 1850's.

On Monday 11^th August 2008 in Grindelwald, Switzerland a group from Bray & Greystones gathered to commemorate the 150^th Anniversary of Charles Barrington’s achievement of being the first man to climb the Eiger Mountain. Charles Barrington (1834-1901) was a 24 year-old from Fassaroe, Bray, Co. Wicklow on holiday in the Swiss town of Grindlewald in August 1858 when the golden age of Alpine climbing was at its height.

A risk-taker who loved a wager, Barrington arrived when most of the salient Swiss summits had already been claimed. Instead he turned to what was still unclimbed above Grindlewald. The Eiger, at 3,970 metres, was certainly not the highest mountain locally but it possessed the twin advantages of being unclaimed and accessible. And so, with local guides Peter Bohren and Christian Almer, Barrington set out at 3am on August 11^th - 150 years ago – up the west face of the mountain and by noon the three were on the summit - the Eiger was theirs. Soon afterwards, Barrington returned to Ireland and never climbed seriously again. Without the perspective of later events, it is likely that his main claim to fame would have been his ownership of the racehorse Sir Robert Peel, that he bought, trained, rode and was winner of the inaugural Irish Grand National in 1870. Charles Barrington died on April 20^th, 1901 and is buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Harold's Cross.

But Barrington's considerable achievement wasn't forgotten by either the Irish or the Swiss. The group made up of members of the Barrington family, Councillors Burrell, Grant & Byrne, and Bray Town Clerk Christine Flood met and erected two memorials to him in Grindelwald & Kleine Scheidegg in co-operation with the local mayor, the local mountain guide, museum curator and members of the local Tourism Board. The bronze plaques commissioned by Bray Town Council and the Barrington's were created by local Bray artist James Hayes.

Cllr. Burrell stated, “It is great to see an achievement like this marked and we are very proud that a Bray man was the first man to climb the Eiger. We were delighted to erect two plaques in the Grindelwald community which include a picture of Charles Barrington’s face, the Eiger and details of his achievement on it. Until now no one knew what he looked like until a portrait was unearthed a few months ago when a relative of the Barrington’s passed away. Ron Barrington, great-grand nephew of Barrington, took a digital photo and put it onto canvass and presented copies to the Museum Curator, the Mayor and the Kleine Scheidegg Hotel, where Barrington stayed, who were all delighted to see at last what he looked like. We look forward to the Swiss delegation coming to Bray in October to see the hometown of Charles Barrington.”

A reciprocal event will be organised in Bray in October for a Swiss Delegation to come for the erection of a third plaque in Bray. Other events will include an Exhibition about Charles Barrington and Grindelwald, a Photo Exhibition and later on in December, the annual Charles Barrington Commemorative Race will take place. Barrington donated a gold watch for a race up and down the Sugarloaf in 1870. For the past two years, Bray Town Council & the Barrington family have sponsored and organised the run with the Irish Mountain Runners Association.

For further information please contact:
Caroline Burrell on 086-314 0453; email: burrell@wicklowgreens.org