On January 6th, 1592 Art O’Neill, his brother Henry, and Red Hugh O’Donnell made a bid for freedom from Dublin Castle. It was the middle of winter and Ireland was held fast in its icy clutches but they hoped to reach the relative safety of the remote Glenmalure Valley over 50km away. Ill equipped and underfed they were the only prisoners ever to successfully escape captivity from Dublin Castle, but it was an ill fated journey with Art O’Neill dying from exposure only miles from his goal.
Every year a small select few commemorate their great strength of spirit by making their own journey from Dublin Castle to Glenmalure in aid of and under the watchful eyes of Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team. The Art is on the extreme end of mountain events in Ireland, given the distance, terrain, weather, navigation, time of year and the fact that it all kicks off at midnight!
Events like this are made for hardy souls; one for Caroline Reid & Co – Sean and Eddie in tow on this one.
A month of rain and a week of snow we’re sure only added to the ‘fun’ for the 2016 edition. Although the conditions were a bit crazy this year (almost two foot of snow in places) we can guess that it did little to dampen spirits or the craic for this trio, who take all in their stride.
Well done guys on a super trek, an incredible feat!
