An Cosantóir

31 raise over 4 million euro every year themselves, through fundraisers and donations, just to keep the place operational, I was completely in shock - fairly disgusted too, to be honest. I thanked the LauraLynn staff for the tour and went to my car, sat in it and cried. I made a vow to myself in my car that day that I would spend the rest of my life finding ways to raise money for this place. I really don't think there is a more worthy charity in Ireland for people to donate to. They are literally the only place in our country who provide a comfortable caring facility for little children who are terminally ill, and their families. In my opinion everybody should be doing something to help them. I started on 5th January. My initial plan was to do 1 hike every Sunday. Some mountains on the list could be hiked together, so I estimated that I would probably finish up around September. When Covid-19 hit, and the subsequent lockdown, I had hiked 16 mountains. During lockdown I couldn't hike any of the other mountains, as I live in probably the flattest part of Ireland, the Curragh, so no mountains near me. I just had to bide my time and hope for an end to lockdown. I realised that I could get back hiking again on 29th June, when the restrictions eased. I wanted to get the remaining 34 mountains completed before winter and in case another lockdown happened. Therefore, I devised a much more intense schedule than the previous one hike per week routine. I set out to hike 3 times per week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I had lost my job through Covid-19, so, luckily, I had the time to commit to this schedule. With this new plan I was scheduled to hike my final mountain, Carrauntoohil, on 27th August, my birthday, which would have been a cool way to finish. Unfortunately, Kildare had 2 subsequent lockdowns and I was forced to sit and wait once again. I eventually got the 50 mountains completed on Saturday, September 19th. What an incredible experience it has been. Discounting lockdowns, I managed to get the 50 mountains hiked in 17 weeks. Most importantly I managed to raise over 17 thousand euro for LauraLynn. My initial target was 2 thousand. I possibly underestimated the interest the challenge would generate and I definitely underestimated people's generosity. This was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Definitely the best thing, morally, I've ever done in my life. You learn a lot about yourself when you're over 800 metres high, in thick cloud, on a narrow ridge, alone. I'm not sure if I have been more humbled by people's kindness to me, or how utterly formidable some of Ireland's mountains are. My most difficult hike mentally was the day I climbed Mweelrea and Ben Lugmore, in Mayo, on the 28th July. I had read a lot about both of them prior to the hike, as I always researched my upcoming mountains, but what stood out were all the warnings people were giving about how dangerous these mountains were. I also came across several articles about people falling to their death up there. So, I was fairly scared before I even began the hike, to be honest. Then being up there was even worse than I feared. The weather was terrible, really strong winds and zero visibility, so that didn't help. There were terrifying cliffs, really narrow ledges we had to walk along, a steeply sloping area with loose stones we had to walk along with a cliff right below it (that my guide told me a woman had died on not so long ago by slipping on the loose stones and falling to her death). I was genuinely terrified for most of the hike. My guide Liam Gavin and his friend Amanda Conlon, both members of the RDF, weren't one-bit scared. Mayo people are a different breed it seems, ha ha. Physically, one of the most difficult I did was Slieve Carr in Mayo. Known as 'Ireland's most remote mountain', it certainly lives up to its name. My great friend, a military policeman (we can forgive him for that), Stephen 'Browners' Browne, was with me on that hike. I told Browners 4 things before that hike. It would be long, it would be tough, but the weather is meant to be good and the views are supposed to be spectacular. Well, it was long, it was tough, but it literally rained non-stop from start to finish, and we could only see around 10 feet in front of us with thick mist throughout the hike, so the jury is still out on those views. The weather, the terrain, the visibility, the physical severity of the hike, all cumulated in making it an extremely arduous challenge. It took us 6 and half hours, 2 mountains, and a lot of misery, just to get to the foot of Slieve Carr, before even beginning to climb it. Then, after we scaled it, began the monumental trek back to the car. I think a part of Browners' soul died on that mountain, but he has since recovered and I think he has forgiven me. The hiking highlight of this crazy journey was hiking Mount Leinster on 20th July with lots of my friends, their kids, my dog Dougal, my brother, my sister, my sister's husband and my 2 nieces Ailbhe and Laoise and my nephew Oisin. I'm very close with my nephew and 2 nieces, so having them share this experience with me was really incredible. We had brilliant weather, a great day out and got a beautiful picture together on the top of the mountain.... a day I'll never forget. So, I'm Beano and this has been my story. I never would have completed, or in fact even attempted, this incredible challenge if I hadn't spent those years in the Irish Defence Forces. That mental strength I developed during my initial experience of recruit training is something I never knew I possessed prior to signing up for the army. It's something I think a large portion of our population has, but maybe never find a means to realise it - I thank the army for that. Now over to you. If you're reading this, maybe you've always wanted to do something like I did, for a charity close to your heart or that has touched your life. My advice: just go for it. It'll be the best thing you'll ever do. v Map reading exercise in the Glen during recruit training in the air corps in 2006. In the picture from left to right - Gary Corcoran, Neville Coughlin, Alan Kearns, Me, Rob Keane, Jonny Cahill v On the peak of Purple Mountain, Kerry, August 2nd 2020 v On the peak of Blackstairs Mountain, Wexford / Carlow, March 15 th 2020 v Having a breather while looking out over the beautiful Coumshingaun Lough, just after reaching the peak of Kilclooney, in Waterford, July 19th 2020 50 PEAKS IN 50 WEEKS

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