The joys of a mountain of work

Building a trail across the Dublin Mountains is no easy task, but a dedicated band of volunteers in Mountain Meitheal are actually attempting to link Tallaght and Shankill across the wooded terrain

‘GET OUT, get dirty and give back,” that’s the motto of Mountain Meitheal, the volunteer organisation that maintains and repairs trails in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains.

And on a recent visit, the volunteers in Cruagh Wood, Rathfarnham, certainly looked like they were entering into the spirit of it. Their task is to construct a new trail that will link the coniferous forest at Cruagh Wood with Massey’s Wood, a deciduous wood further down the mountain. The trail is a small but significant part of the ambitious plan to link Tallaght to Shankill on the recently launched Dublin Mountain Way.

Men and women in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and older are wielding shovels, pushing wheelbarrows and digging out a trench for the new trail. Others are laying the geotextile material that forms the base of the new trail, which is then covered over with local stones and sand. The new trail is forming before our eyes and the Mountain Meitheal volunteers are like a hive of happy bees at work.

“I saw the link to Mountain Meitheal on the Mountaineering Ireland website and I decided to come along to help,” says mountaineer Eamon Quigley. “There’s a view that for every seven days you walk, you should give one day back, and I subscribe to that,” he adds.

RESEARCH GENETICIST Carol Loscher was looking for a volunteering activity and came across the organisation. “I’m from Roundwood in Co Wicklow originally although I live in Dublin now. I came out for the first time a few weeks ago when an emergency shelter was being built in Paddock Hill in the Wicklow Mountains [this was the second overnight shelter constructed by Mountain Meitheal, the first is in Glenmalure]. It’s a great thing to do at the weekends and it’s free.

“You’ve got to be willing to do hard work, but we let the men do the really heavy stuff,” she says.

Her sister, Jenny is out for the first time. “I walk a lot of these paths and it’s nice to contribute to the work. We need more walkways,” she says.

Psychiatric nurse Robert Grandon, from County Carlow, has been involved with Mountain Meitheal for three years now. “There is a great sense of camaraderie. We take what we do seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously,” he says. “For a lot of people, it’s the first time that they get to do physical work, so there’s a learning curve.”

Mountain Meitheal projects are worked on twice a month on Saturdays or Sundays from February to November. Each project is planned ahead and has an official leader on the work-day. The tools and tasks of the job are explained at the beginning of each day and the work schedule runs from about 10.30am to 3.30pm. Gloves and tools are supplied and all the work is done by hand.

“People are only asked to do what they are capable of doing. If they tire themselves out, they won’t come back,” says Shay Walsh, chair of Mountain Meitheal.

THE PROJECT to construct the new trail linking Cruagh Wood with Massey’s Wood is the first one being carried out in collaboration with the Irish Ramblers Club and the Dublin Mountains Partnership (DMP).

“It’s an opportunity for us to get more kilometres of trails built than we would have funding for otherwise,” says Karen Woods, recreation manager with the DMP. Karen is on site at Cruagh, joining in with other Mountain Meitheal volunteers on the day. She’s even brought her husband along to work too.

Milo Kane is a long-time member of the Irish Rambler’s Club who supplied the materials for the job. “As funds become scarcer, we’ll need more walking closer to Dublin,” he says.

“I remember the oil crisis of the 1970s and how valuable it was to be able to walk from the 49 bus to start a walk and then pick up the 44 bus on the way back,” he says. “This trail will be a great connection between Cruagh and Massey’s Wood and the Hellfire Club across the road.”

Bill Murphy is a founder member of Mountain Meitheal. “I first saw the idea in action in the Appalachian Mountains when I was walking there in 2000. The trails there are maintained by different walking clubs and I thought it was a great way of getting people involved in the outdoors. It also helps people understand that they have responsibility for the trails they walk on,” he says.

The group now has about 65 members and a mailing list of 275.

‘SOMETIMES, walking clubs give us a day’s work and we get the occasional corporate volunteer day but because we only work at the weekends, this doesn’t always suit,” says Shay Walsh.

“We operate on a shoestring, so it’s great to have the Dublin Mountains Partnership involved and people are always so happy to see the work we do on the mountains.” Although it is a volunteer organisation, the work carried out by the Mountain Meitheal volunteers follows a strict sustainability code of practise. The recently published, Mountain Meitheal Guide to Trail Design and Construction in Ireland by Bill Murphy is testament to the careful approach followed to manage water, limit trail damage and reinstate damaged sites.

On our visit to Cruagh Wood, Shay Walsh brings us to see the recently completed bog bridge, a spur off the track, which brings walkers onto the open mountain in 10 minutes or so. Made from thick studded planks that prevent slippage, the 400m bridge brings walkers over a boggy upland area for a real wilderness experience. Walsh proudly shows us where the heathers, mosses and grasses are growing back across the multiple tracks that the new bog bridge has replaced.

The view from the top across the city to Dublin bay is spectacular and those keen to go further can head for Glasnanmucky Mountain and the southern slopes of Glendoo.

On our way down, we meet some walkers who have enjoyed the off-track experience just as much as we did. “Seeing other people enjoy the trails we built is the real satisfaction of this work,” says Walsh.

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