Trinity team secures Jailbreak 2019 win at Slovakian castle

Chris Meaney and Méabh Smyth were first to reach the destination

Trinity students Chris Meaney and Méabh Smyth have reached Bojnice Castle in Slovakia, marking them the winners of Jailbreak 2019. The team raised €1,539.79 in funding for Amnesty International and St. Vincent de Paul.

After a weekend of travelling across Europe to reach Location X Bojnice Castle in Slovakia, participants of Jailbreak finished the charity event with the winners being a Trinity team. Meaney and Smyth reached Bojnice Castle shortly before 3pm on Sunday afternoon, having travelled through Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, and Zloven before reaching the castle.

Speaking to Trinity News, Smyth and Meaney said: “It feels amazing to have won, particularly with the focus on promoting Irish this year. We enjoyed every stressful minute of it.”

“[We’re] delighted to have won but even more delighted to have raised over €1,500 for two great charities,” the team said.

This year’s Jailbreak teams successfully raised €61,012.55 money for Amnesty International and Vincent de Paul.

A second Trinity team, comprising Amy Worrall and Fátimah Alaya, were the most successful team in raising funds throughout this year’s Jailbreak competition, securing €5465.00 for charity.

Following in joint second place were Zoe and Thomas (team 82) from Dublin City University (DCU) and Muireann and Jack (team 49) from University College Cork (UCC). In third place, were Una O’Brien and Aine O’Brien (team 69) and Eleanor Donohue and Hannah Harte (team 122).

Jailbreak has raised over €285,000 since its conception in 2013. Over the period of a weekend, teams of two face the challenge of racing across Europe without spending any of their own money in order to reach an undisclosed “Location X” which is revealed through a series of clues. In the weeks leading up to the event, participants fundraise for charities and are expected to not use this money throughout the race.

Jailbreak, which originated in Trinity in 2013, has expanded and now is open to all universities in Ireland with last year the winner being from teams from University College Cork.

Georgina Francis

Georgina Francis is a former Managing Editor, Life Editor and Assistant Life Editor of Trinity News.