Wild Water Kayak Club is a voluntary organisation and the members are proud to be part of the biggest network of paddlers in Ireland. With a reputation for fun, safety and learning, our club continues to grow and improve.
The Wild Water clubhouse is located at the Strawberry Beds, Dublin, on the banks of the River Liffey, just above Palmerstown Weir. The club facilitates successful introductory courses every year to introduce people to sport of kayaking and canoeing. We have a significant number of qualified and trainee instructors and if you would like to learn to canoe or kayak we encourage you to get in touch at beginners@wwkc.net.
Wild Water Kayak Club has active participants in each of the six disciplines the club is involved in – Adventure Kayaking, Open Canoeing, Marathon, Polo Slalom, and Wild Water Racing.
There is a range of ability in each discipline from novice to expert, and paddlers are encouraged whether they prefer to specialise in one discipline or partake in them all, and whether they want to participate in a competitive or recreational manner. The club also has a flourishing junior section which caters for all levels from beginners courses through to instructor level training.
To find out more about the club in general, why not have a nose about the site.
Our History
WWKC was founded in 1963 — 2013 saw us celebrate 50 years in operation — by a group of individuals from Dalkey, who were originally sea kayakers.
The group decided to set up a multi-discipline kayaking club on the banks of the Liffey and chose a site in north Dublin on the Strawberry Beds, the home of the flourishing club to the present day.
In the beginning, WWKC had as Commodore, John De Courcy Ireland, a very well known Irish maritime historian and political activist, who died in 2006 aged 94. In the early days of the club formation, it was mainly a slalom club, a kayaking discipline that had club members representing Ireland in the Olympics over the years.
WWKC members have also represented Ireland at European and World Championship levels in many kayaking disciplines and the club also boasts some of the country’s top whitewater river runners and instructors.