AN epic trek along the Wild Atlantic Way is being taken to raise funds for the people of Gaza, travelling all the way to West Cork.
The 2,800km Wild Atlantic Way trek is being undertaken by Pat Murphy, a teacher and father-of-four from Corofin, Co Galway, in his 1962 David Brown 850, which can only reach a maximum speed of 24kph.
Pat expects his tractor will do it in about two weeks taking the coastal Wild Atlantic Way. He began his trek last Thursday at Malin Head and will be accompanied by his friend Tony Harrison from Ballina in Mayo who will be driving a camper van where he will sleep each night.
This is the route that Pat Murphy will take in his tractor.
Pat said they plan to drive for eight hours each day and to take 15-minute breaks every two hours.
‘The tractor can do a maximum speed of 24kph so it will be a long journey, but for a very worthy cause,’ said Pat, who teaches woodwork at Wesley College Dublin and lives in Sallins, Co Kildare.
‘It is a 62-year-old David Brown 850 that has been fully restored. It has no power steering or cabin, just fresh air. If it rains, I’ll be just going through it.
‘There is no suspension, either, and not a lot of comfort, so I will have an extra cushion on the seat, which will make a huge difference.
‘I will also be wearing a lot of Factor 50 and a sombrero hat to protect me from the sun and it can actually get very cool in an open top tractor so I have a heavy coat with me too.’
Pat Murphy in Malin Head at the start of his journey last Thursday. He hopes to arrive in Mizen Head in around two weeks.
All proceeds will go to the humanitarian aid organisation Concern Worldwide and its Gaza appeal. Pat chose Concern because of his past involvement with the charity as a volunteer in Rwanda in 1995 and 1996 after the brutal genocide that occurred there.
‘I really value the work that Concern does, especially after working for them in refugee camps after the Rwanda genocide,’ he said.
‘The people of Gaza really need our help today. Anybody who has seen the pictures on television knows that the people there need our support.’
Another friend, Brendan Joyce, transported Pat’s tractor from Corofin, where he grew up, to Malin Head and will collect it when they reach Ireland’s most south-westerly point – at Mizen Head.
Pat hopes to raise at least €5,000 on his GoFundMe page called ‘Malin to Mizen – Charity Tractor Run for Concern’ and has already raised over €3,000.
Pat hopes to raise €5,000 for Concern through his journey.
‘We will have signs up on the vehicles to show people how they can support us on our GoFundMe page and I will be posting my progress of the journey each day on my Facebook and Instagram pages,’ he said.
To support Pat Murphy’s tractor fundraising trek for Gaza, go to his GoFundMe page, and his Instagram page is called Murphsmeander_malintomizen.
