I came to Bruce Springsteen in my later years. But I saw him play twice. One in Kilkenny and the last in Dublin. But Bruce is now entering a whole new stage in my life.
Reminds me of the image in the head of Daniel O’Donnell singing a blues song Dream Baby Dream Located on the top of the Holy Mountains of Ireland. Well, that’s exactly what happened on April 2nd, Climb With Charlie Day.
On that day, a lot of things happened that had never happened before.
More than 40 members of the Crew Bay Pipe Band have been waiting for me at the top of The Reek for the first time in history.And when they reached the summit with family, friends, and hundreds of people, they greeted me. Lagran Road..
Daniel, who had promised to climb with me months ago, not only fulfilled his promise, but also started singing. Dream Baby DreamMy wife, Claire, asked him to do it for me.
near
Matt Molloy plays at the top of Croagh Patrick. Photo: Conor McKeown
Then, Westport’s local hero and, of course, the Chieftains member Matt Molloy took out the flute and started playing a few songs. Yes, a little session on The Reek with Matt and the Crew Bay pipe band.
Even today, it is difficult to express in words the feeling of reaching the top of the holy mountain. When I first came up with the idea of climbing Croagh Patrick with my friends, I never thought it would work in my dreams. Many people in Ireland and abroad kept this whole idea in mind and it was they who turned it into an unforgettable and wonderful day.
People keep saying that I’m an inspiration. But in my view, it was normal people to wear hiking boots and climb mountains, hills and stairs across the country. They were real inspiration.
It’s now incredible to see how much money ClimbWithCharlie has raised. Astonishing total of about € 3,300,000. Tens of thousands of people are responsible for achieving this goal.
Reaching the pinnacle of Croagh Patrick has never been so easy for me. For over 40 years as a journalist, I have brought many heights in my career, but I never stand on top of Croagh Patrick.
It was as if the gods were looking down at us. Sleet began to fall on the mountainside, and climbers stopped to put on their raincoats. And when I reached the top, the clouds were scattered and the sun began to shine. Yes, I cried so much, but the pain was alleviated by being held by my family and friends.
There were many moments and images that touched my heart. When I saw the tricolor and Ukrainian flags fluttering in the breeze at the top of the mountain, I had to go through the crowd and touch them. It was an emotional joy and another sight in my head until I died.
near
Ryan Tablidy, Charlie Byrd, Daniel O’Donnell at the summit of Croagh Patrick. Photo: Conor McKeown
In the weeks before climbing, I was pondering what I wanted to do there. Somewhere in my head, I came up with the idea of lighting a lot of candles in a lovely little church above The Reek.
I was hoping my new companion, Vicky Ferrand, would climb with me, but the first candle was for her because she couldn’t make it because of her illness. did.
And I’ve always said that I want to think of everyone who has a terminal illness — not all of this should always be mine — so the second candle has a terminal illness. It was for everyone suffering.
The third was for everyone who was in the dark and climbed their own mountain. Fourth, in a sense, it was to celebrate everyone who worked hard in the fight against the pandemic. And the fifth, of course, was for the Ukrainian people.
So I entered a small church and set fire to five candles, surrounded by my wife Claire, my two daughters Aura and Neasa, and my five emotionally overwhelmed grandchildren.
near
Climb with Charlie Byrd’s new book, Charlie
After all the emotions of mountaineering and people from every corner of Ireland and people from abroad reached out to me for friendship, I became somewhat comfortable on the journey I was with.Summary Climb with Charlie The book — thanks to Merrion Press — in a few weeks — as that special day made the memories more realistic. It’s a great record of raising more money for me, for everyone who participated in mayonnaise, and for all of Ireland, and for the Irish Motor Neurological Diseases Association and Pieta.
Bruce Springsteen is with me at the end of my journey. I listen to this song many times a week.Blue sea, sing Land of Hope and Dreams.. If you’re still lucky, I hope you can see him sing at a concert in Dublin next May.Maybe myself, Daniel [O’Donnell] The blues will start singing together. anyway, Dream Baby Dream..
near
Charlie Byrd and his wife Claire have five candles lit in a church above Croagh Patrick.Photo: Jerry Mooney
Vicky Ferrand: “The weeks I spent preparing for the climb distracted me from the deterioration of my family’s health.”
I have never climbed Croagh Patrick. I know I will never climb because I have terminal cancer at the age of 47. But on a beautiful Saturday in April, thanks to Charlie Byrd and his Climb With Charlie initiative, I climbed closer than ever. Thousands of people across the country climbed, hiked, and walked on hills. Or show support for Charlie and many people who climb the mountain every day due to physical and mental health problems at the local mountain on April 2nd.
Charlie set a goal to climb himself to Croagh Patrick, and I jumped into Charlie’s tide with thousands of others, and offered himself to The Leak. Unfortunately, my body decided not to cooperate, and I couldn’t go to Mayo to lend my support. However, my family promised to take me a four-hour trip from Kilkenny to Mayo. This effort was very important not only for me but for the whole family.
The weeks I spent preparing for the climb distracted me from the elephants in my room, my health deteriorated, and my family was able to focus positively during the very difficult times of spending more than two weeks in hospice. It came to be. Care. Talking about which stick to bring and what to wear, I was now shuffling from A to B with a Zimmer frame and had no shape to travel west.
near
Charlie Byrd. Photo: Conor McKeown
My situation further enlivened my family. Because they knew how much it meant to me to be at the pinnacle of Croagh Patrick. So, on the day of the climb, it was a wonderful moment when my family arrived at the summit and called from the summit. We were all very emotional. There were tears, but they were tears of joy. There was no sadness. I was physically improving every day, and that’s really important. Yes, I would have given something to be at the top of The Leak with my family, Charlie and all the supporters, but I saw my family-sized Croagh Patrick and went to the summit on my phone Reaching was a very proud moment for me, and I always cherish it.
Throughout the morning and afternoon, I followed my friends and followers on Instagram and Facebook and congratulated them on reaching the pinnacle of Croagh Patrick. As the crowd swelled and Daniel O’Donnell went on stage to announce Charlie’s arrival, the entire summit exploded with feelings I had never seen before. His friend John Wall put me on the speakerphone and handed me a call to Daniel. Daniel introduced us to the crowd that gathered there. A big cheer broke out. Charlie stood behind Daniel. Seeing him standing there made me very moving. To thank this wonderful guy for making this unique event possible, I said a few words.
It was all very emotional, but when Charlie lit his five candles in the chapel, the most emotional moment hadn’t come to me yet. One of Charlie’s team recorded the moment Charlie solemnly took out the five candles and lit them according to their intentions. The first candle was for me. Knowing how long it took Charlie to speak, seeing him ignite my candle, and dedicating it to me with his own voice is a gesture very special to me I made it meaningful. I will never forget that moment.
Climb With Charlie, featuring the preface to Vicky Ferrand and Ryan Dubridi, is published by Merrion Press.
