It is  416km from Monaghan to Mizen so I have  decided to undertake the walk in 20 days. This will consist of walking 20 half marathons, completing the task at sunrise on midsummer's morning, which this year is on June 20th. I will do this while maintaining Covid 19 travel restrictions, so regretfully I won’t get to encounter all the amazing places  and people through 7 counties on the journey to Mizen. Instead, I will encounter the rolling hills of mid county Monaghan. However, I want to include those places and people  in my walk, so I am asking them to send me scenic photos of their area a day before I would arrive, to the Monaghan to Mizen Facebook Page or email me at noelduffy77@gmail.com. These will then be put up as I virtually pass through the area. I am of course also encouraging you to donate.  The Facebook Page will also give a full itinerary of the virtual journey so people know when to get out walking and take a few photos.

I have decided to undertake this charity fundraiser in memory of my late mother Nan  who cruelly left this world as a result of a massive stroke in November 2018.  One Monday, she was full of life as a young 71 year old, the next Monday we were leaving her in her final resting place in Ballintra. As  a family, we didn’t really get a chance to say goodbye. I wanted to do something on behalf of my  amazing, kind, considerate  mother who  looked after my whole family and I, so well, all her life.

The reason why I am   choosing The Acute Stroke Unit  in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital as a beneficiary is because that is where my mother was taken when she had her stroke. Even though the stroke was unrecoverable the staff in the unit looked after her extremely well in the last 4 days of her life. They looked after us all - mum, my family and her close friends who visited in those last few days. Now is my chance to say thanks and say how much we as a family appreciated all the staff did.  

The other charity benefiting from the walk is the Irish Heart Foundation. This was chosen as the Duffy family want to promote Stroke Awareness in Ireland.  Each year, approximately 10,000 Irish people have a stroke and around 2,000 die – more deaths than breast cancer, prostate cancer and bowel cancer combined. The Irish Heart Foundation is  trying to change this through  awareness campaigns, policy solutions, recovery and Support Groups.  My family want to let people know there is life after stroke, there is help out there and if you do have a stroke you have to act fast

To keep updated with the Monaghan 2 Mizen Virtual Walk  please  go to  https://www.facebook.com/monaghan2mizen/I will also provide updates on my Instagram  - 
https://www.instagram.com/nollaigodufaigh/