Rory Best completes 378km Mayo challenge as fundraising total reaches €4.2m

Ireland and Ulster rugby legend Rory Best has completed his longest fundraising walking challenge to date, arriving at the nearly completed Daisy Lodge in Cong after a 378km, nine-day journey across the island of Ireland.

Rory’s Miles to Mayo – The Trilogy, has helped bring the combined total raised across Best’s three fundraising challenges for Cancer Fund for Children to approximately €4.2 million.

Rory and a team of 21 business leaders – including Mayo 2026 All-Ireland football winner, and director and co-founder of Spot Recruitment Cillian O’Connor – reached their final destination at Daisy Lodge in Cong on Sunday afternoon, September 20.

The second Daisy Lodge centre, which is due to open in 2027, will provide therapeutic short breaks for children and families affected by cancer.

The 21 participants each set out to raise €50,000 and successfully reached their individual targets, helping the latest challenge raise around €1.7 million when combined with other donations.

The final kilometre of the challenge was completed alongside families from Mayo who have been supported by Cancer Fund for Children. The O’Malley family from The Neale and the Walsh family from Hollymount joined the walkers, along with 14-year-old Michael Gavin from Kill in Co. Kildare, who has also received support from the charity.

At Daisy Lodge, representatives from Cancer Fund for Children and headline sponsor Arachas Corporate Brokers unveiled a commemorative stone monument to Rory Best in recognition of his contribution to the development of the new centre.

Speaking at Cong, Best said it was particularly special to complete the final stage at Daisy Lodge, having turned the first sod at the site three years ago at the end of the first Rory’s Miles to Mayo challenge.

“Short breaks at Daisy Lodge provide children with cancer a space to rest, time with their families and the opportunity to build connections with others their own age who are going through the same thing,” he said.

“Though the walk was one of the hardest physical challenges I’ve ever undertaken, knowing the funds raised will go towards helping Cancer Fund for Children run its vital Daisy Lodge centre for children and families going through inconceivably tough times made every step completely worth it.”

Cancer Fund for Children CEO Phil Alexander thanked Best and all those who took part, saying the charity was “in complete awe” of the support received across the island of Ireland.

The funds raised through the latest challenge will help equip Daisy Lodge, Cong, ahead of its planned opening next year.

Cancer Fund for Children currently says demand for short breaks at its existing Daisy Lodge in Newcastle, Co. Down, far exceeds capacity, with only one in seven families able to be accommodated.

Best’s first Rory’s Miles to Mayo challenge in 2021 saw him walk 290km from Newcastle to the site of the future Daisy Lodge in Cong, raising more than €1 million, while in 2023, he walked from Dublin’s Aviva Stadium to Cong, raising a further €1.5 million.

In 2025, the 26 Mountains to Mayo challenge also raised more than €1.8 million.

Fundraising remains open through the Rory’s Miles to Mayo campaign here, with donations going towards Cancer Fund for Children and the development of Daisy Lodge in Cong.