Local men to cycle Wild Atlantic Way for Pieta House

TWO Lorrha men have set themselves a gruelling challenge to cycle the Wild Atlantic Way and all in aid of Pieta House.
Denis Maher and Thomas Houlihan will cycle a total of 2,400km which Denis reveals is the longest in Europe. They started from Dingle on Monday last May 22nd and they don’t plan to break any records. “We just want to do it,” said Denis “regardless of how long it takes. So much depends on conditions, weather, traffic, exhaustion and all that so we won’t set a target each day but just do what we can,” he said.

“The driving force, of course,” said Denis “is what we are doing it for. That’s a great reminder, a great motivator that will keep driving us on and give us more encouragement, and when your legs are aching going up that hill, we will be thinking that we are doing this for a wonderful organisation who do so much good, very, very good work for people who really need them,” he said.
His cycling companion Tommy Houlihan agrees and adds that every euro that goes into the account, is also a great motivator. “When we look at the account at the end of the day and see that money has been donated, it helps us get motivated and it encourages us for the next day” he said.
They plan to do this cycle in three stages by cycling five days each week from Monday to Friday and take the weekends off, then go back on Monday and commence where they left off. The reason for this explains Denis is that the roads they will be travelling will be narrow and hilly and there will be a lot of tourists out and about on the same roads so traffic will be heavy at the weekends which would make their position more precarious. It will also of course give the two men a much needed rest so they can recharge their energy.

Last year the pair completed the Mizen to Malin head and on that occasion they raised over €8,400 which they presented to Pieta later in the year. This time around they have set a target of €5,000 and they say they will be delighted if they can hit that target but the more they can get the better for Pieta House.
“Pieta House is a wonderful organisation,” said Denis. “When people are in trouble and they want to talk to somebody, they can call Pieta House and someone will be there 24 hours. They are also great to comfort people that are in bereavement which is another great service that they provide, but all of their finances is raised by volunteers doing what we are doing for example, so we would appreciate if people could donate what they can because we are going to need a lot of support,” said Denis.
Four people make up a strong reliable back up team comprising of Tommy's brother Bernie and his son Niall along with Denis’ wife Lil and their son Daniel, who will all take turns in accompanying the pair on their cycling journey.
They can be followed on facebook where they will be posting regular reports with photos and some video clips and to donate please go to https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/WildAtlanticCycle4Pieta.