140km Charity Cycle raises money for Irish Cancer Society

Six men cycled from Naas to Nenagh in aid of the Irish Cancer Society on the hottest day of the year so far, raising over €10,000 for their beneficiary.

On Saturday, July 12, Borrisokane’s Shane Donnelly and Paul McDonnell from Thurles, cycled 140km with Ollie Malone, Oliver Fay, Seamus Gannon and Mark Hendrick in memory of Nenagh’s Pat Conneran, who passed away from leukaemia in February. It was also an opportunity for other members of the group to remember those who they had lost to cancer.

“We’ve all been affected by it. Everyone on the cycle had lost close relatives and friends to cancer so we spoke about them on the way down and we spoke about how it affected us and everyone going through it. It was quite emotional for everyone,” explained Shane Donnelly.

Death of a father-in-law

In March, Shane lost his father-in-law, Pat Conneran who was originally from Knockanpierce, Nenagh to leukaemia at the age of 79.

“We came up with the idea of a charity cycle. Pat was from Nenagh, but he was a Detective Garda in Naas, so he lived in Naas.

“Pat was a real Tipperary man. He was up and down to Nenagh every other week. That was the idea of going from Naas to Nenagh,

“He was treated so well by the Irish Cancer Society. They were just fantastic with the support that they gave him. I just wanted to do something to just give something back to them,” explained Shane.

The Irish Cancer Society were a great support to Pat while he was sick with leukaemia.

“Every hospital appointment that he had, the Irish Cancer Society had a driver that picked him up, brought him to the hospital, waited for him, brought him home. He passed away in the comfort of his own home and they provided the bed; they provided all the equipment that was necessary to make him as comfortable as possible.

“They were just unbelievable, and it just kind of opened my eyes to realise the importance of having them there because of the support that they give to families and that’s why we came up with the idea,” said Shane.

The Charity Cycle

The group cycled 140km from Naas to Nenagh to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society.

“We started off with a target of €2,000. It’s over €9,300 now, which is unbelievable really. We weren’t expecting to get anything like that,” explained Shane.

Despite the intense heat, the group set off on their cycle as planned that morning.

“We left 8 o clock Saturday morning, and we arrived in Nenagh around 3 o clock,

“There was six of us altogether. We had a man with a van as well. He was bringing food, fluid and snacks and stuff,

“We stopped in different towns along the way, and we had the buckets out collecting,” explained Shane,

The heat was an additional challenge for the group on the day of their cycle.

“It was ferocious. We had the wind in our face when we were cycling but the sun was savage. The heat would catch your breath at times,

“I think the mercury hit 30 degrees at one stage, so it was very hot,” said Shane.

“Two of the six, you would regard them as experienced cyclists. I only took up road bike cycling two months ago when we started to train for this, so I had no experience. I had no bike, no gear, I had to get all the necessary equipment.

“For the experienced lads, I don’t think they were under that much pressure, but I was definitely probably the one out of the six that felt it most in my legs coming to the finish line,” he continued.

Family and friends celebrated with the group after their cycle in Mulls 47 along Kenyon Street that afternoon and the group were blown away by people’s generosity and kindness.

“Physically and mentally, it was challenge, all your legs want to do is stop and take a rest and your mind is the same. What gets you through a cycle like that is the reason why you are doing it and the camaraderie in the group.

“The whole time you are thinking about why you’re doing it and you’re thinking about people’s generosity. People are very very good,” said Shane.

Further Donations

If anyone would like to donate to this charity cycle in aid of the Irish Cancer Society, then they can find the fundraiser online under Naas 2 Nenagh Cycle Fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society on justgiving.com.