Treasure Hunting in Offaly – The adventure of Geocaching

THE adventure of finding a Geocache treasure is gaining popularity in Ireland

There are a number of geocache sites around Offaly. If the weather is fine this weekend and you have an interest in outdoor treasure hunting then this could be a brand new hobby and one in which all the family can get involved.

A geocache is a container which holds items hidden in a certain spot by a person known as a geocacher. This person then submits the information and the coordinates of the whereabouts of the container on a website.

The next geocacher logs on to the website usually geocaching.com and finds the coordinates and any clues that the first geocacher has left. They then have to figure out where the container is hidden using the coordinates and a GPS to track it down.

Inside the container there may be a small log book for the finder to add their name and the date they found it, plus whatever small item was put there by the first person. The finder usually adds another object to the container.They must then place the container back where they found it in order for the next geocacher to discover.

Finders are allowed to take an item from the container as long as they replace it with something of the same value. All items should be appropriate, as it is a family friendly game.

There are over three million geocache sites around the world and there are a large number in Ireland and some in Offaly.

There is said to be one at Birr Castle while Croghan Hill has another. This one is described as metal cylinder painted black, brown and green. It was hidden in 2004. At Colgan's bridge there is a small plastic box with a log, pencil and some swaps.

The Glebe Walk in Geashill has another one. There is a description to go along with this, describing the village and where to park. It tells geocachers what to look out for, such as the insect hotel, red squirrel, buzzard or kestrel. If the treasure hunter spots any of these animals they are asked to log it in the notebook in the container, if or when they find it.

A hint for those looking in the Glebe Walk is to ''look under the skinny lime with the long scar on its leg.''

There is another one on Clara bog. Under the description of the bog there are comments from those who have found it and others who didn't. One said ''Not a sign of it. Got wet in the process of looking for it. Still, this is a wonderful place to visit.'' Someone else has ''Very good cache! Thanks for it!'' The last person to visit was on June 4 this year their comment was simply ''cool''

Geocachers are very environmentally conscious and will often clean up any bits of litter they come across.

This is an outdoor game for nature lovers especially, so treasure hunters are asked to respect any place they visit and not to leave any litter behind them.