Climbing with Charlie.....in spirit.

 Today, April 2nd was the day that Charlie Bird was doing his epic climb of Croagh Patrick. For those readers who are not Irish, Charlie was a journalist and news correspondent for RTE for many years. He unfortunately was diagnosed with Motor Neurone disease a while back.

Not one to lie down under this, he decided to climb Croagh Patrick in order to raise funds for charities that deal with people climbing their own personal physical and mental mountains.  Croagh Patrick is the mountain that good ole St Patrick used to climb when he wanted to do penance. So as you can imagine it is NOT easy for a person in the whole of their health , never mind someone who has a debilitating disorder. Over 3,000 people registered to climb with Charlie today, as well as over 200 climbs organised all over the country.

I woke up early this morning and decided I was going to do something in support. I googled my nearest climb. Living in flat Westmeath means we have no decent hills let alone a mountain! So I set off for Cairn T in Loughcrew, the highest point in Meath.

This was me, halfway up. I was out of breath but thinking "If Charlie Bird can climb Croagh Patrick, I sure as hell can climb this little one."

It was a fab morning, bright and rainfree! There were many people on the way up and many more on the way down. 

Everyone was in top form and there was lots of banter. The volunteers were there to show the way, collect the money and take photos. The sense of community spirit was tangible. So far over one million has been raised and that's sure to grow. the view from the top made it all worthwhile.

 I know we have our faults, but we're a great little country all the same.

Well done Charlie. You're a legend.