TWO CLARE teenagers have marked the conclusion of the Leaving Certificate by setting off on a cross-county walk and hike in aid of Bunratty Search and Rescue Service.
On Monday morning, Colin McNamara and Darragh Higgins set off on a 148km walk from Newmarket-on-Fergus to Westport and from here they’ll climb Croagh Patrick at 11am on Friday, all in aid of Bunratty Search and Rescue. They have extended an open invite for the public to join them on the last leg of their journey.
Fresh from sitting the Leaving Cert at St Patrick’s Comprehensive in Shannon, Colin concluded his exams on Thursday with Darragh finishing up on Friday, the duo took on other test. “We’re happy out to have the exams all over, it’s a bit of a Leaving Cert holiday for us,” quipped Newmarket-on-Fergus native Colin.
Speaking to The Clare Echo from Crusheen on Monday following their first pitstop with 23.6km of the route undertaken having walked via Quin and Spancilhill from their starting point, the duo were in high spirits. They camped on Monday and Tuesday night with The Friars Quarter Hotel and The Wesport Coast Hotel sponsoring hotel rooms for Wednesday and Thursday.
Deciding to do the fundraiser is Colin’s endeavour to try win a Gold Gaisce Award to compliment his existing silver and bronze accolades. “I was doing my Gaisces throughout the year, I have got the bronze and silver awards so for the gold I had to do a four-day adventure journey, it is a minimum of eighty kilometres so we said we’d double the distance and do it for charity. We’ve been looking at local charities around the place, Bunratty Search & Rescue are doing so much for the community so we said we’d pick them,” he explained.
He praised The Comp for exposing him to the value of The Gaisce Awards. “In TY in the Comp they had us all doing the bronze, then it went from there, we were trying to get a group together to do the silver, I ended up doing that so I had done two and said I might as well do the last one and go for gold. For the bronze, we went to Lilliput in Louth to an adventure centre, for the silver I went to Waterford and did a couple of hikes there over three days, it is constant go between volunteering, personal activity and physical activity, it is good to go and a good experience”.
Shannon native Darragh managed to get himself roped in to the challenge. “He asked a few people and I was the only one to say yeah, it sounded like it would be fun to do and we might as well do something good while we’re at it. I’m hoping to do a gap year and get a lot of things done in between so I said I might as well tick this off my list”.
Choosing Bunratty Search and Rescue Service was a way of giving back. “I feel like it is a group that is very much taken for granted,” Darragh said. “They are all around us, they are out on boats and helicopters, you would always see them around the place, it is something to give back to the community. They got us tops and sponsored us half-zips for the walks, we are very grateful to them, they keep us warm,” Colin outlined.
Offering some support for Friday’s hike will be a few regulars from the iconic O’Neills Bar in Newmarket-on-Fergus where Colin has been offering a helping hand to his grandmother Ann, grand-aunt Lourda and other loyal-serving family members behind the bar. “There is a fine group, we have Trish O’Grady and Ger Devanney as the medical team at the bottom of the mountain for us, we’ll have Geraldine (O’Grady), Ann Marie (McNamara) and Dad (David McNamara) going up, I think we have eight or nine doing it and we’ve some more with great support from the Agricultural Show, people are more than welcome to walk along with us”.
Last Sunday, a preparatory hike to Croagh Patrick was done, this Friday they’ll do it after completing the cross-county walk. “We’d be hiking a decent bit, for my eighteenth we did Moylussa, we trained them well in advance,” commented Colin. Eighteen year old Colin is hopeful of attending agricultural college before pursuing a career as a quantity surveyor while nineteen year old Darragh is hoping to join the army next summer.
So far they have raised over €3,200, the response according to Colin has been “amazing, the support has been overwhelming, it is all going to a good cause”. Darragh pointed out the goodwill “keeps us going” with Colin adding, “Seeing the GoFund Me go up as we go along is symbolic in a way. We’re really grateful for everything we’ve got out of it so far, it is a good experience. We’re very thankful to everyone for sharing and donating”.
