Cruach Phádraig do Phádraig
A message from Andrew, April 2023
Dear friends and supporters of Pádraig.
The time has come. Seo muid réidh!
10 years on from Pádraig’s accident and 3 years on from the original planned date, We will finally be completing the hike up Croagh Patrick in aid of Pádraig on Saturday 06 May!
Everyone is welcome to come along. If you previously planned on doing the hike or if you’ve a new friend / partner that would like to come along too. The more the merrier!
The plan is just like before – We will hike at 11am on Saturday 06 May. A mini-bus/lifts will take people from Westport town out to the foot of the mountain and back after the post-hike music and pints session in Campbells, with Pádraig and family!
One change this time around is that we are NOT ORGANISING ACCOMMODATION for everyone. Westport town and district has a massive amount of airbnb, bnb and hotel accommodation, so please note that you do need to book your own place (though we will be organising a bus from town out to the mountain).
If you plan on doing the hike, please fill in this form as soon as possible so as to help with our planning. Similarly, if you want to bring a new friend / partner etc. this time, please forward them this form and get them to fill it in too. If you are not free to do the hike, simply ignore the form.
Finally, Oisín managed to get our original fundraising page back up and running (well done, folks, you raised over 18k without so much as taking a step, the last time!). So that means that all of your individual fundraising pages that are linked to the central event (Cruach Phádraig do Phádraig) are active again too. Obviously, you’ve probably already raised quite a bit for this event and we understand that we are unlikely to raise a massive additional amount, but if you would like to spread the word again and get further donations, please do
We will be doing a fundraising drive in the immediate run-up and during the event itself. If you want to set up a new page / if you have a friend that is now going to do the hike, you or they can easily set up an individual page that will feed into the main event’s pot by clicking on this link and clicking on the orange “start fundraising” button. Pádraig’s needs and expenses are as urgent as ever, so every cent is a great help.
Rather than choke up people’s notifications, please keep any queries to direct messages to me etc. I’ll be setting up a new (admin-comment-only, dont worry!) whatsapp group for this resurrected challenge in the coming days, when I know who is doing it!
Grá Mór agus Beirígí bua!
Cruach Phádraig do Phádraig
The Original 2020 Climb
This St. Patrick’s weekend, we’ll be climbing Croagh Patrick in aid of Pádraig Schaler, our good friend who suffered an acquired brain injury in 2013. On Saturday, March 14, over 40 of Pádraig’s friends will begin the ascent of the Reek – with the hope that the same number make it back down again! Níl bealach níos fearr le Féile Naomh Phádraig a cheiliúradh ná taobh Chruach Phádraig lenár Pádraig fhéin.
All funds raised will go to support Caring for Pádraig. Pádraig’s continued care and therapy comes at a financial cost, and Caring for Pádraig was set up after his accident as a way for his friends and family to help out in that regard. Nearly seven years on from being knocked off his bicycle in Cape Cod and suffering a serious brain injury, Pádraig continues to take big and small steps on the road of rehabilitation. Though advanced movement and speech is currently beyond him, Pádraig hears and understands everything, and is able to communicate with those around him via actions or gestures, communication aids, or often through his own ingenuity.
Pádraig, as his friends can well attest to, obviously loves the craic and has expressed his excitement to be joining the climbers for a music session at Campbell’s Pub at the foot of Croagh Patrick following their descent of the Reek. The thought of that hooley, with Pádraig right in the middle of it, is something that will hopefully keep climbers in good spirits when the going gets tough, which is certainly will atop the Reek.
It’s a perfect Pádraig storm – Lá Fhéile Phádraig, Cruach Phádraig, agus Pádraig é fhéin – what more could you want!
Go n-éirí an sliabh leis na dreapadóirí!
SUPPORT PÁDRAIG’S FRIENDS’ EFFORT – IDONATE
Caring for Pádraig 