BY SARAH CANTY
IN July of last year, Áine Barry from Skibbereen turned 30 and wanted to do something positive for herself to mark the occasion, but also to honour family members who had passed away earlier that year.
She set up a GoFundMe page and identified some goals for herself. She aimed to run 12 half marathons (21.1km each) in 12 months to honour her recently-deceased grandfather and aunt, and to raise money for the West Cork-based palliative carers who so expertly and compassionately looked after them both in their final weeks.
‘The nurses and staff of West Cork Palliative Care, who are nothing short of angels, provided exceptional and comforting care to both my aunt and my granda as well as our families during a very difficult time,’ Áine said.
Her dad, David, joined her for those first couple of runs last summer. She moved to Abu Dhabi shortly after, to work as a teacher. In no time she made friends to run with there, continuing to work toward her ultimate goal.
As the one-year mark approached, she arranged to come home for the final feat where she could share it with family and enjoy another run with her dad. Around that time, the first ever ‘RunSkibb,’ a 10k and half-marathon event, was being organised to take place in July – an event for which Áine is very grateful. ‘I want to mention Jonathon and the Body Active group. They made such a nice ending to the whole experience,’ she said.
Aine reckoned there were nearly 750 people who ran, jogged or walked at the event and by all accounts a fair portion of those were her siblings, cousins, and friends who either joined her on the road, or welcomed her at the finish line.
Many people were touched by the compassionate care that the local palliative team delivered to Áine’s grandfather, John Barry of Gortnascreena, who passed away in March 2023 and her aunt, Cathy O’Sullivan of Ballydehob, who passed away just weeks before that. ‘We had the same nurses in both houses, and they were just incredible,’ remembers Áine. ‘I had never seen anything like it – we were all in awe of the way they cared for them. They had a calming way about them and were able to put us at ease.’
Áine had in mind a target of €500 when she started her journey. On Tuesday August 13th she and her parents presented the cheque to Marymount Hospice in the amount of €9,415. Another remarkable accomplishment by Aine.
She is grateful for the times she spent having cups of tea with her granda, a farmer who also worked in Colomane creamery for 40 years, and was known for his welcoming nature and sense of humour.
‘He adored his 23 grandchildren and always had so much interest in what we were doing. In recent years as I was travelling, he loved getting postcards and videos from all the exotic places,’ reminisces Áine. Likewise, her aunt Cathy was known as a gentle soul who loved how close the cousins were. ‘She always had the kindest words and a smile for everyone she met and that’s something she has not only passed on to her incredible children, but to her nephews and nieces too. They would have both been so proud of us all this last year.’
