ESAT Digifone have kindly sponsored us a mobile phone for the duration of the
"Round Ireland for Bóthar" project.
24 July 1998. Kathrin raced in the 5.30 at Tipperary on July 18 and came 6th in a field of 16. The horse was second for the first two miles, and Kathrin was delighted with how the race went. She said she had never had such an adrenalin rush!
The horses enjoyed their extended break and were fresh for their Monday-morning shoeing. The Murphy kids saddled up their ponies and proudly escorted us the first mile from their house. It was funny to see the tiny shetland pony bobbing along beside our enormous mounts. Author Alice Taylor collected a fortune for us in Inishannon with our bucket before we pressed on to Bandon.
The mart in Bandon was fairly dead, so we continued our colleciton in the Supervalue car park in the centre of Bandon. Community Radio 104 put us on the Local News - it's the first time we've been local news!
Next day's journey, through Roscarbery and Skibereen, was uneventful except for our success with the Examiner. Eoin had just discovered the concept of the News Editor, and got in touch with the NE of the Examiner. A photographer was dispatched and a journalist assigned, and we were on page 7 next morning.
We spent the night with Ele and Erhardt in Church Cross, sleeping in the stable between the stables of the horses. The sound of the horses munching hay, strangely comforting, was our companion till the small hours.
What a horrible drizzly day we had next! We set off on back roads for Bantry. In heavy drizzle, strong wind and whirling fog we got lost in the maze of roads. Kathrin said it was like being on the moon! With the heavy weather we cancelled our collection in Bantry and headed straight for our accommodation at Bantry Horse Riding.
After a morning collection in Bantry we met a couple from Hazel Lodge, Balleylickey, who told us of an alternative route to Kenmare and invited us to stay with them. We made an early stop for the night and took the horses for a swim in Bantry Bay. Billy wasn't mad keen on swimming, but Mrs Doyle is a keen swimmer and proved herself to be a real Sea Horse! Neither horse had been swimming before.
Billy, our 12 y.o. gelding, sometimes likes to act the stallion and is quite strong-willed. Eoin, who normally rides him, was finding him a handful, so Kathrin had a go at putting manners on him. He's a changed horse!
Our route to Kenmare took us over Priest's Leap, where a cross marks the spot where a pursued priest in the middle ages leapt five miles over Bantry Bay to safety. With excellent weather and the prospect of a beautiful view from the top - and great ESAT phone coverage - Eoin got busy,arranged a freelance phtographer to meet us at the top and spent the rest of the ride chatting up News Editors.
The ride down the hill was quicker than expected, and we were able to collect for an hour in Main St, Kenmare, before going on to the Garden Party organised by Eoin's parents. For the first time we had collectors, who did very well with the crowd. The weather was ideal for the Garden Party and we met a large number of people. When we got to counting, we had almost 1,000 pounds!
Best support yet in Cork city!
18 July 1998. In Waterford Kathrin heard that she could ride in her first race that Sunday. Kathrin got her Jockey License the week before we set off and has had no opportunity to use it. Her employers, PM Lynch of Latoon, had entered her for a Bumper in Tipperary. She was very excited.
As we travelled the road to Dungarvan, she practised her balance and her racing position with short stirrups and occasional canters on the perfect grass verges. Eoin got his hair cut in Dungarvan, short back and sides - Kathrin said he looked about 16. He didn't take his helmet off for 24 hours.
At Kiely's next morning Kathrin got a chance to canter on a thoroughbred - she was delighted to find her balance intact. John Kiely and his riders accompanied us out the road to show us a short cut to Youghal. It was good to get some company! Youghal was a hard town to collect in - long and stringy - so we weren't long in heading for our night's rest.
We slept in a haybarn - a very comfortable night we had too, on the freshly made hay - before heading on for Glanmire. En route we collected at Middleton Mart - we had good support form the small crowd there.
Our attack on Cork was well timed - Friday, after the morning's rush hour. We had thought about getting a horse box for transport, but found the traffic surprisingly light. All of a sudden we were in Patrick St. We set up beside Roches at the end of a pedestrian street.
What a stressful collection! Crowds passed us from all sides, throwing moeny at us. Eoin's mother Vera and a chap called Arthur were a great help to keep things under control. The horses were a little back form the people and behaved very well. By the end we were both telling people "Bothar send poor familes to dairy cows in Africa"
It was hard to leave such a good spot. As soon as we emptied a bucket it was covered over with money again! After 2 and a half hours we left with over 600 pounds. On we went again towards our three-night rest in Inishannon.
Tour d'Irlande
14 July 1998. Cliona from the AIRC met us in Bray and presented us with a cheque for £100. We pressed on through Wicklow - brushed with the most ignorant and useless farrier we had met on our trip - and received strong support from the IFA in Wexford. We spent three nights with Eoin's relations in the South East - cousin in Wexford, aunt in New Ross and uncle in Waterford.
The Tour de France caught up with us on Monday 13. We challenged them to get form Enniscorthy to Cork before we got from New Ross to Waterford! We had to start at 06.30 to cross the only bridge before it closed for the tour. We passed numerous Garda checkpoints who all didn't challenge us - apparently they thought we were the mounted police! After almost an hour we were banned to the side roads.
To make it a fair contest, we let the tour catch up. It also gave Kathrin an opportunity to see the tour. We paused for a while on a side road near Slieverue. The horses weren't much impressed by the Tour, and neither was Kathrin, who was disgusted to have waited that long to watch the bunch zip by. An hour later in Waterford we'd won our challenge!
In Waterford's pedestrianised area we found a good spot to collect and did quite well. After settling the horses we hurried back into town to get Eoin's hair cut - by now an emergency! Unfortunately they were all closed so we had to make for the nearest pub.
Hard work in the Square
8 July 1998. We were picked up on the outskirts of Dublin by Karen Fallon and brought to her place in Baldonnell. Karen works in the Garda Siochana and was able to arrange permission for us to collect in The Mill, Clondalkin that very evening. Afterwards we all sat together counting the money - we had 10 lbs!
Next morning we headed for the Square in Tallaght. Big surprise was earlier that morning when Louise from the Gerry Ryan Show called to take a brief. We rode through Saggart and on towards Tallaght. When we were due for interview, we called into a housing estate off the road to minimise noise. Gerry gave us a good interview and a great plug as we rode around in tight circles in the housing estate to get Clip-Clop sound effects.
The Square was hard work! After some discussions with Security, we settled ourselves at the West Entrance. We were surrounded by bored kids, all constantly asking questions, everything from "Is da a racehorse mister?" to "Mister, how many legs does he have?" We were there for almost 3 hours and were disappointed to find the collection below average. Well, it *was* a Monday morning!
As we headed into the Wicklow mountains from Dublin, we met our first seriously ignorant drivers, who beeped at us and yelled out the window. We cause minimal disruption - less than a tractor and trailor - as we travel around the country, so we can only guess it was the stresses of the city these eejits were letting off.
Advance on Dublin
5 July 1998. Dundalk and Drogheda supported us strongly at our lunchtime collections. With the improved phone coverage closer to Dublin, we were able to give a number of interviews, from horseback as we rode through the Louth countryside. We all enjoyed a canter along the beach from Mornington to Laytown! The horses had never been to the beach before Round Ireland, and Eoin says there's nothing better to relieve saddle soreness!
On our rest-day with Eoin's relations near Julianstown, we are planning our assault on Dublin, trying to arrange a horse box, accommodation, and an opportunity to collect for Bóthar.
By horse through the North!
2 July 1998. Shortly after entering Northern Ireland, Kathrin also fell ill near Gortin, Co Tyrone. Thanks to Ann and Erwin Pattison for offering four-star treatment to two strangers with their horses - they soon got us back on our feet!
We shot across Tyrone in a day to Cookstown and Killygarvan to get the horses shod near the shores of Lough Neagh. The Laurel and Hardy team of farriers, Ryan Lamb and Peter Coyle, kept us amused as they hammered on 8 new shoes.
We set off for Portadown with no clear accomodation arranged for the horses or ourselves, and had to spend quite some time on the phone with our supporters around the country. In the event we were rescued by John, Eddie and Martin, who arranged everything. The horses spent the night at Jensens, while we stayed with Jim Larkin on the Garvaghy road. We both found it fascinating to talk to people who live in the centre of the difficulties surrounding Drumcree/Garvaghy Rd and hear their oppinions.
Next day we visited Jim at work, Bullers beautifully kept stables, and continued along the Newry Canal to Newry. The soft going underfoot allowed us to trot along at a faster pace than usual. The pollen in the air along the path made it hard going for Eoin! We unfortunately arrived in Newry too late to do any collecting.
The response in Northern Ireland to our horse-ride was fantastic and we were sorry to leave. In fact we left a day earlier than the horses - Pat Beegan, who rang us after our first Radio 1 interview, invited us to stay in his Parkview B&B in the Republic, while the horses were stabled by the Devlins just over the border in NI.
Donegal Calling
25 June 1998. From Westport we headed north, stopping briefly to shoe Mrs Doyle on the side of the road near Castlebar. We're grateful for the support and welcome we received along the route, including the Creans, the Reapes, the McMunns, the Walshes, the Dalys and the Crowes!
Our fundraising continued strongly and indeed we reached a new daily peak in Sligo of 330 pounds! As we press north we find have noticed a change in the communities we are meeting and we are adopting new methods to meet this challenge.
Our replacement horse Billy, an exceptionally strong 12 year-old bay gelding has taken over from Tayto, who was finding the going a little tough. Billy is a very comfortable horse to ride and bonded quickly with the mare, Mrs Doyle.
The irregular summer weather is drawing casualties everywhere, and Eoin spent three days with a fever in bed in Stranorlar, where the Raitts kindly nursed him back to health. Our new route will head due east from Ballybofey for Cookstown and Newmills to make up this time.
News from Westport!
14 June 1998. Just over a week into our long journey we've reached Westport. Weather was bad most of last week which made travelling on horseback tough, but this has thankfully improved. From windburn to sunburn! Our most exciting moment last week was when a tree nearly fell on us three miles outside of Ballyvaughan in Co Clare. With a flash of green and the scraping of shoes, Eoin suddenly found himself careering at a gallop in the wrong direction!
We've had a great response from people we have met. The Irish love for horses is still alive. We look forward to an even better response with the better weather! RAdio stations have been keen to cover our story, which has helped to boost our profile. So far we've been on Radio 1, Radio na Gaeltachta (in pidgin Irish!), Limerick 85, Clare FM, Galway Bay FM and Clifden Community Radio.
Eoin's parents travelled with us last week to help us iron out teething troubles - we'll miss them now! Kathrin's brother was also with us this weekend.
The horses are responding really well to the challenges put on them - they really are the stars of the show. Their shoes have almost 200 miles up on them now and are due for replacement. Their coats have a great sheen and people comment to us on how well they look.
Launch of Round Ireland for Bóthar
Our launch on June 3 was a great success! Onlookers described it as a spectacle as up to five horses milled around a sizable crowd following the instructions of photographers and cameramen. "Round Ireland" horses Tayto and Mrs Doyle carried full saddlebags, and really looked the part.
After the launch the five horsemen, Kathrin, Eoin, Pat Lynch, Connie Bourke and Suzanne rode to Newmarket-on-Fergus via Sixmilebridge. Weather conditions were ideal and we were given a warm reception by passers-by!
Our goal is to raise enough for Bóthar to send 32 goats to Africa, as we are encircling the 32 counties of Ireland. As we set off, we have already raised enough for 6 goats!
ESAT Digifone have kindly sponsored us a mobile phone for the duration of the
"Round Ireland for Bóthar" project.
The new Round Ireland for Bóthar hotline is 086-8100049 (+353 86 8100049 from outside Ireland).
We are very grateful to the people who have supported us so far. You are helping to make "Round Ireland for Bóthar" a success!
Amongst the major contributors are:
