Damian finishes his 333km walk in Kerry
IT has been four months since Damian Murphy was allowed to return home to Kerry, but he got a hero’s welcome to his native county this week as he finished a major fundraising drive for charity on his own doorstep.
During lock-down, the Portmagee man decided to do a ‘virtual walk’ from his adopted home of Kildare to Kerry, and each evening he set out on a walk in his locality to complete the 333km journey.
With the final few kilometres in sight and the COVID-19 travel restrictions lifted, Damian returned to Kerry and took on the final leg of the walk from
Cahersiveen to his home in Portmagee.
However, Damian has not only completed the major trek, he has managed to raise more than €9,000 for his chosen charity, Cúnamh Iveragh.
This is a charity close to his heart; his sister, Aoife, avails of their services, and Aoife joined Damian for the last leg of his walk home. So, too, did other members of Cúnamh Iveragh.
Damian wanted to help the charity, who are planning to develop a residential centre in Cahersiveen as they have lost what would be a major funding boost with the cancellation of the Ring of Kerry charity cycle for 2020.
“I wanted to do something small for the charity as they won’t have funds from the Ring of Kerry. It is nothing in comparison to what would have come from the Ring,” he said.
However, with almost €9,000 raised for the charity, it is above and beyond what he could have hoped to raise, and he is very grateful for all the donations.
“The GoFundMe Page has raised around €7,500, and I got donations from work and from other friends. I got donations from South Kerry and beyond and from the US and Canada and other locations who know about Cúnamh Iveragh,” said Damian.
“I want to thank everyone who donated and shared the event. I want to thank the media for all the support and my family.”
And now Damian plans to enjoy his time back home in Kerry with his sister and family having been away for the duration of lock-down.