Northern Ireland

Co Down Catholic parishioners walk across Ireland for Protestant neighbours

Micky McKevitt and Eamonn O'Connor begin their walk across Ireland to raise funds for Kilbroney Parish Church
Micky McKevitt and Eamonn O'Connor begin their walk across Ireland to raise funds for Kilbroney Parish Church Micky McKevitt and Eamonn O'Connor begin their walk across Ireland to raise funds for Kilbroney Parish Church

TWO Catholic churchgoers from Co Down set off yesterday on a mammoth walk across Ireland to help their Protestant neighbours raise vital funds for church roof repairs.

Eamonn O'Connor (61) and Mickey McKevitt (56), members of Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Rostrevor, Co Down, know affectionately as the two 'Warriors', will walk around 280 kilometres across the width of Ireland, finishing with a climb of Croagh Patrick on Saturday May 7.

All money raised by the two grandfathers will go towards the restoration fund at Kilbroney Parish Anglican Church.

Mr O'Connor told the Irish News that he and his friend decided to take up the challenge after completing the Camino de Santiago route in Spain three years ago.

"We just thought it was a nice thing to do. Rostrevor is a lovely community. We say the two communities, but we're all the one community, we just happen to go to different churches."

Reverend Colin McCormack, rector of Kilbroney Parish Church called it a "tremendous gesture" from the two men, agreeing it was reflective of the strong relationship between the two communities.

"There is a wish and will from the Roman Catholic community both in Warrenpoint and Kilbroney to keep us in existence," he said.

"I've experienced a heck of a lot of support really and I would go as far as to say sometimes we have got more support from the other side than we have from our own."

Built in 1821 St Bronach, Kilbroney is only one of 16 ringing towers in Northern Ireland.

The bell tower in the church urgently needs a new roof and requires structural repairs. The estimated cost of this and other essential work is £230,000.

The mammoth trek started yesterday morning at the church itself.

From there Mr O'Connor and Mr McKevitt were taken by boat across Carlingford Lough to then walk on to Dundalk, a distance of 24km.

Over the 10 days, the two will pass through Carrickmacross, Coothill, Ballyconnell, Carrick on Shannon, Ballaghadreen, Swinford, Castlebar, and Westport before arriving in Murnisk on Friday, May 6.

They will then scale Croagh Partrick in Co Mayo the following day.

Supporters can also follow their progress through the 'Bronach to Patrick' Facebook page or live on the map by visiting - maps.opentracking.co.uk/bronachtopatrick.cfm

* Donations to their fundraising effort can be made via text message with the unique code KPCR15 and an amount of £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070.