Aidan Corbett
Three West Waterford cousins have raised in excess of €15,000 for charity by cycling from Amsterdam to Athens.
Their initial target was €1000.
"We had no idea we'd raise that much. Crazy."
Cillian, Jack and Ryan O'Connor took on the expedition to raise money for Pieta House and West Waterford Suicide Prevention Group.
The trio travelled 3,500km, spanning nine countries to complete the challenge.
Cillian likened the distance to travelling from Cappoquin to Cork City 51 times.
The Cappoquin cousins handed over the cheque to the West Waterford group on Friday night at the Sportsman Bar.
L-R: Moira Ryan (Committee Member, Liz Oakham (Secretary), Kieran Geary (Treasurer), Jack O'Connor, John Ryan (Vice Chairman), Cillian O'Connor, Monica Campion (Vice Treasurer)
Speaking to WLR, Cillian explained the inspiration behind the excursion.
"Just the epidemic of the amount of suicides that are happening around. It's a problem that's affecting everybody so we thought it'd be a good charity to pick," he said.
Asked how it felt to be handing over the cheque, Jack responded:
"Yeah, it was a great achievement. It's surreal. It's definitely felt real for a long time now. The amount of money raised is ridiculous. I never thought we'd get to that figure."
The Cousins had many stories to share from their travels across the continent but perhaps the most interesting was the one experienced by Ryan. Cillian and Jack explained the reasoning behind Ryan's absence on the night.
"He's run away to America with a young one. He's meant to be here tonight. He's in Chicago now. He met her in Albania. And she followed him home to Ireland and now they're both on to America."
The lighthearted duo on the night joked of the jealousy from others in the locality at the tan they returned with.
Asked whether there was another idea in the pipeline.
"It's under wraps at the moment. We're playing around with a few ideas. We can't really disclose. Just stand back and watch this," they concluded.
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