6 experiences for people with hearing loss or deafness

1. Row a currach

Rowing a traditional currach is a lovely activity for anyone with hearing loss. It’s meditative and immersive with just the ripple of water, the splash of oars and optional conversation without background noise.

There are community groups all over the island of Ireland eager to give people a taste of the local waterways. Naomhoga Corchai in Cork runs public rows in currachs most Saturday mornings and has a wide membership of friendly people. Lagan Currachs in Belfast is a very inclusive and welcoming group, with many members who have visual impairments, hearing loss or other disabilities.

I’m one of those members and we take newcomers out to explore Belfast from the River Lagan several times a week in the 12-person currach, with at least one space on each trip for a non-rowing passenger. It’s a lovely experience to watch the sunrise or sunset from the water, and encounter wildlife all along the banks: a starling murmuration, kingfishers, otters, seals, fish, swans, herons and sometimes a fox running along the water’s edge.

Sailability is another option for people and families with disabilities to get out on the water in all sorts of craft, from kayaks and dinghies to motorboats. There are Sailability groups in every province with open sessions every week of the sailing season.

2. Go wild in the woods

I have been on several brilliant, fun, inclusive weekends with Wild Women of the Woods NI, a non-profit women’s organisation that provides camps, day retreats, outdoor activities and events in nature. The group is run by Rachel Pedder who has a lot of experience in working with hearing impaired and deaf groups, and who also has Level 3 BSL.

I went on a foraging weekend in Wicklow where we were professionally guided to look closely, smell, feel and taste to identify species of fungi, plant, seaweed or crustacean, collecting some of the edibles for one of Rachel’s signature gourmet barbeques later.

I’ve been able to fully enjoy my Wild Women of the Woods experiences as they are activity-based, very inclusive, with small groups, and because they are outdoor, there’s usually very little background noise. There are some other hearing impaired members of the group too, and the coordinator, Rachel, makes sure that every facilitator – from storyteller to bushcraft expert to kayaking guide – speaks clearly and checks in with us that we are following everything as well as the rest of the group.

3. Visit a bookshop

As conversations can be difficult and tiring for me, I often seek mental stimulation in different forms like reading and writing. There are some amazing bookshops around Ireland that are ideal for that. A bookshop tour of Ireland doesn’t seem to have been created yet, but it would keep a tourist busy for a while!

No Alibis in Belfast is the best little crime fiction and local literature bookshop in the world and owner David is always helpful and careful to speak clearly so I can understand. In Tertulia Bookshop in Westport I curled up with a book on a sofa in the communal reading area and hid in its nooks and crannies to write. It even has a tiny secret room under the stairs.

Antiquity Bookshop and Vegan Cafe in Skibbereen is quaint, quiet and welcoming. Kenny’s in Galway is large and friendly with sofas and desks for writers, and an art gallery upstairs. In Derry~Londonderry, Little Acorns Bookstore is a treasure trove of new and used books. And Inishbofin island has the most westerly bookshop on the island, and maybe most peaceful one, too.

4. Explore the islands

Ireland’s islands are almost always quiet and tranquil, especially after the last ferry of the day has switched off its engines. My partner and I hired a tandem from Aran Bike Hire and we covered the whole of Inis Mór in a couple of days, visiting Pol na bPéist, the strange and unsettling rectangular natural sea pool, climbing around Dún Aonghasa, the iron age fort at the top of the western cliffs, and visiting the wool and craft shops and the many lovely beaches.

We took along Tim Robinson’s book Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage to read on our stay. The book is presented as a clockwise walk around the island, gathering stories from the local people that deepen appreciation of the geology and deep time history. My partner used the Warblr app to show me which birds were present and singing, out of my hearing range.

5. Try snorkelling

Snorkelling is a lovely activity that thankfully doesn’t rely on hearing at all. One of the best places I’ve come across in Ireland for snorkelling is at Diamond Rocks, Kilkee, County Clare. It is a huge shale and sandstone intertidal zone with many large rock pools that fill and empty through the day as the tide ebbs and flows, completely transforming the landscape. The name comes from large quartz crystals under the water. I spent days exploring the larger pools which never empty. Some are as wide and deep as swimming pools and can feel almost as warm, especially when the rocks have been warming in the sun all day.

Under the surface, the pools are lush with many coloured seaweeds, schools of small fish, shrimp and sea anemone. We brought our own snorkels, but if you’d feel more confident with a guide, contact Kilkee Sub Aqua Club who sometimes do free taster sessions, meeting at Diamond Rocks car park. You can also try scuba diving off Rathlin Island.

6. Relax in a sauna

I love the cosy cedar-lined acoustics of a sauna where you can have conversations with friends without any background noise. A few months ago as part of a bachelorette camping party, a group of us went to the Sauna Shack in Gortin Glen Forest in County Tyrone. Beforehand, we went to Gortin Lakes to get properly cold in one of the mineral rich bog water lakes. It was like swimming in a giant pint of silky cold stout. Then we rushed two minutes down the road to get roasted in the Sauna Shack. It looks out on a mossy forest and a river of pristine protected water, where you can plunge and bring your body temperature quickly back down after the sauna heat.

There are saunas popping up all over Ireland these days so a sauna tour of the island would also be possible. The Hot Box Sauna has a long list of stunning locations across Ireland.

Everyday life is stressful as a person with hearing loss and we need the rest and relaxation of a holiday all the more, so for me it is a huge relief to find peaceful places where stimulation doesn’t rely solely on speech, and where people understand and make adjustments. Writing about all of these experiences has reminded me to make time to experience more of what I enjoy, where I am not as limited by my hearing impairment. Now if I could only find a sauna-boat-bookshop on an island…