Captain Tom and Paul O’Connell inspire Limerick boys on charity journey

THERE might be a big age gap between Captain Tom Moore and two Murroe brothers but they are all young at heart and have a wonderful spirit.

Last month, Donagh and Rían Horgan, aged 9 and 11, heard on the radio one day about the English 99-year-old raising £23m for the NHS by walking laps of his garden.

“We decided we should try and raise some money for a charity in Ireland. Our mom and dad saw Paul O’Connell on the Late Late Show talking about Barnardos. They suggested that we should raise the money for Barnardos. We thought this was a good idea because Barnardos looks after families and children that need help,” the brothers told the Leader.

They didn’t pick an easy challenge. They came up with the idea of cycling and running a total of 270kms over 15 days. Every day, Donagh and Rían cycled 7km and ran 2km.

“We found the first few days difficult. But from about day six it got easier each day. We feel much fitter now after doing the challenge,” they said.

The Gaelscoil Chaladh an Treoigh, Castletroy pupils will be in tip-top shape when they return to school and playing hurling with Murroe-Boher, soccer with Murroe and athletics with Newport. 

“We miss seeing our friends a lot because of the lockdown. We cannot wait to go back to hurling, soccer and athletics,” they said.

They set an original target of €100 but actually raised sixteen times that on a Go Fund Me page set up by their mum and dad, Aileen and Michael Horgan.  

Michael said: “Myself and Aileen are very proud of their determination and achievement in doing this challenge. Fifteen days was a long time but they were full of enthusiasm heading out each day. 

“Starting out we thought they would raise around €100 but family, friends and even strangers have been very generous. We are very grateful to all those who supported them.”

You can still donate online by searching 270km cycle-run for Barnardos Go Fund Me.