Tag Archives: charity cycle

A FUNDRAISING cycle from Malin Head to Mizen Head will take place during the first week of June in memory of two women who spent many years cycling and fundraising before passing to their eternal reward during the second half of last year. On July 20, 2021, Susan O’Neill, from Ballyea, died from cancer and on November 11, 2021, Antoinette Pender from Quilty also died having contracted cancer. Both women had fought bravely before finally succumbing and the fundraising cycle is titled ‘South for Susan and Antoinette’. A limited number of cyclists will undertake the journey from Malin Head to Mizen Head between June 6 and 10. Overnight rest points are scheduled for Donegal Town, Claremorris, Ballyea and Blarney. Susan’s husband Michael O’Neill and Antoinette’s husband Jamsie have commenced training in preparation for the once-off event. Both are experienced cyclists and the long miles are not likely to be too daunting to them. Other cyclists who have volunteered for the …

A KILLALOE mother-of-two has described the €27,000 raised by her daughter’s charity cycle for a major community development as “phenomenal”. “Julie’s Cycle to School” has exceeded the initial €3,000 target ninefold as thousands of euro poured in from people who watched Julie Collins (6), who is a wheelchair user, cycle on her adapted bike. Even the rain didn’t deter Julie from cycling her fourth kilometre from the car park near Gooser’s Bar, Ballina down to the former co-op store on the bridge and back again on Saturday. Flanked by her parents, Nicola and Fergus, a group of about 40 family and friends cheered Julie along the way and posed for photographs with two giant balloons with inscriptions “Well Done Julie” in the viewing area overlooking the lake in the middle of Ballina. Julie will complete her final kilometre at Boher National School. Born in Ballyvalley, Killaloe, Nicola is now living in Boher and is the chairperson of Boher Community Development …

Element Six staff are set to get on their bikes to raise funds for a charity that has provided valuable support to a child of a worker at the Shannon based multi-national’s plant. Members of staff will take on a 50km cycle in south east Clare as a ‘thank you’ to Cliona’s Foundation for its support for two year old Fionna Barry, who has spent most of his young life in hospital being treated for Infantile Spasms – a debilitating and life limiting illness that requires 24hour care. Fionn’s father Trevor Barry works at Element 6 and staff have chosen Cliona’s Foundation as its designated charity for the year to give something back to the Limerick based organisation for its support for the two year old. Fionn was diagnosed with the illness when he was just six months old and is unable to walk, stand or even sit unaided. He has also speech challenges and is visually impaired. The cycle …

SEVERAL club members and the wider Clooney community will tog out next week – not to fulfil a GAA club fixture but to lend a helping hand to fundraising efforts for a fellow parishioner. When Kilburn Gaels lifted their first ever London championship trophy in 2010, they were coached by Clooney clubman Noel Harrison. A key player on that championship-winning team was Gort’s Cathal Forde. Fast forward 18 months and all associated with the London club were utterly devastated when Cathal collapsed and died at a training session. It subsequently emerged that he died as a result of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS). Some time later, Noel Harrison was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. He will soon be returning home to Clooney permanently and will receive ongoing treatment provided locally by MS Ireland. Following Cathal’s death, the Cormac Trust, a group set up following the similar death of Tyrone footballer Cormac McAnallen got in contact with the Forde family, and provided …

GIVEN the thousands of visitors from Limerick who decamp to Kilkee every summer, rugby talk isn’t exactly foreign to the resort town. There was plenty of rugby speech heard beneath the soft September air earlier this week and those loosening their tongues, in advance of the Rugby World Cup, knew what they were talking about. Former All Black number eight Zinzan Brooke, Scottish fly half Craig Chalmers and Welsh international Leigh Davies found time to project ahead to the autumn tournament, while on a brief break from the Mizen to Malin cancer fundraising cycle. Before they got to the rugby though, these rugby men couldn’t but have the odd dig at each other, or at themselves, regarding their cycling skills. “When you’re in the peloton and there is a big pothole coming up, you need your other team members to warn you. When you start getting to the hills, you sort of stop talking. On the flat you can get …

COORACLARE man, Martin Donnelly, who lives in Meath, has revealed details of a fundraising cycle on June 20 and 21. All proceeds from the two-day cycle, which will start in Clonea and conclude in Cooraclare, will be split between the West Clare Mini Marathon Cancer Fund and St Francis Hospice in Dublin 15. “This cycle is something that has been in my mind for a while,” Martin Donnelly told The Clare Champion. “You’re not going to cycle all that way without having a purpose to it. So I came up with the idea of calling it a Cycle In Remembrance. So people will do this in memory of somebody close to them who has passed away and, at the same time, raise much-needed funds for West Clare Cancer Care and St Francis Hospice in Blanchardstown, which is very close to Clonea. There are 60,000 to 80,000 people living in Dublin 15 and they have opened a six-bed hospice. They all …

Shannon Airport staff got on their bikes at the weekend to undertake a gruelling 175km charity cycle. The cyclists braved the worst of the May weather, as driving wind and rain throughout the 10-hour cycle added to the challenging circuit. In all, they raised €14,000 for the neonatal unit at the Regional Maternity Hospital, the Samaritans and the Clare branch of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society of Ireland. The group set off at 8am from King John’s Castle, Limerick, on Saturday, for a route that took them all the way to the Cliffs of Moher, before concluding at the airport. Speaking after the cycle, Shannon Airport’s operations director, Niall Maloney, said the effort was more than worth it. “It was a tough cycle for all involved, not least a number of people who are new enough to the sport, so they deserve great credit as we had a very tough route and very challenging weather. “We raised around €14,000 for …

A Corofin native is among 30 friends and work colleagues of a County Donegal man, who is currently battling cancer, who will this week embark on a 350km charity cycle along Ireland’s western seaboard. They are on a mission to raise funds for Friend’s of St Luke’s and Bone Marrow for Leukaemia Trust. Tour for Shaun 2014 is inspired by 26-year-old Shaun Doherty, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2011. The charity cycle will see the group, which includes Declan Keane from Corofin, travel through counties Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal, during the June Bank Holiday Weekend. Many of the cyclists participating in the fundraiser are based in London, where civil engineer, Shaun relocated to from his home village of Clonmany five years ago, having graduated with a BSc Hons in Construction Management from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology. During a trip home to Donegal in August 2011, Shaun was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, at …