Walk the Line 2024: A Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team Fundraiser /  by ellie berry

Walk the Line is a fundraising event for the Dublin-Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team.

Founded in 1984, the Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team responds to emergencies in upland areas of Dublin, Wicklow, and Louth. They’re available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. And like every mountain rescue team in Ireland, they are 100% volunteer based.

The Dublin & Wicklow team is made up of 60 highly-trained rescuers, brought together by their love of the outdoors, and now dedicating hundreds of hours to helping others. 

But back to these windy Dublin hills, and the fading evening light. Since 2011, Walk the Line has been one of the core fundraising events for the Dublin-Wicklow team. This challenge walk takes you through the mountains on both popular trails and less travelled paths. Starting in the late afternoon sunshine of a cold March Saturday, you walk with old friends or new acquaintances into the night. 

I chose the long route, which covers roughly 22km, but there’s also a short route of 11k. I also opted for self-guided, as by now, I’m fairly comfortable on the tracks and trails here. However, there is a guided option for those who want to take part in the challenge with the security of knowing there is always someone who knows where to go. The guides are often connected to the rescue team, which can also be a fantastic way to just learn more about the work they do. 

Walk the Line is one of the three major fundraising events that the Dublin-Wicklow Team organises each year, and was the final one for me to tick off the list. Run the Line, as you can probably guess, is a spin-off of this walking event, and aimed at the growing trail-running community in Ireland. Their final event is the Art O’Neill Challenge, a 60km self-nav ultra from Dublin Castle in the city centre, all the way to Glenmalure in the Wicklow Mountains.

Coming from a walking background, I found it strange that I had somehow managed to do their two running fundraisers before getting to this one. In the few quiet moments, between breathing in the chilling winds of fairy castle, taking photos of the moon, and chatting the hours of walking away, I walked in comfortable silence, and felt so grateful that I was there.

The Dublin-Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team is one of eleven teams that make up Mountain Rescue Ireland. When needed, they all work together across the island, to make sure that when the call comes in, there is someone to answer.  

Thank you to everyone, past, present, in Ireland and beyond, who has worked with a mountain rescue team. 

Each of the mountainous regions of the island have a dedicated emergency response team, with SARDA our K9 unit composed of members from the various mountain rescue teams.

Each of the teams is also available to assist other mountain rescue teams on their emergency responses. All of the teams come together each July on the Reek Sunday pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick in Mayo.

Mountain rescues are initiated by ringing the emergency number, 999/112 and asking for Mountain Rescue. This will lead to an interaction with a Garda Station (in the South) or the Coastguard (in the North) who will take details from you and then alert the local team.