CELTS BY THE SEA!
On Saturday 17th June, we held our first “Celts By The Sea” Fundraiser in aid of Celtic Fc Foundation in Ballycotton, Co.Cork, which in total raised an outstanding amount of around €12,000.
The day began at the home of the event sponsor, ‘Sea Church’ – a beautiful restaurant and event space in picturesque Ballycotton, in the East of Cork – as participants were welcomed into the venue for registration ahead of the 9.5km sponsored walk.
After what had been a rainy morning, the sun graced us with its presence just in time for a group photo at the starting point of Ballycotton Cliff Walk as participants were joined by former Celts Mick Conroy and Tosh McKinlay. The route certainly didn’t disappoint with some truly breathtaking sea views throughout. The walk ended back at Sea Church and everyone participating enjoyed a BBQ, before the evening got underway with some fantastic entertainment.
The evening kicked off with a word of thanks from the Celtic Fc Foundation, who were represented by Jane Maguire & Michael McCourt, who we were delighted to welcome, then it was over to our MC for the night – local Cork Comedian Tadhg Hickey. From there it was a Q&A session with Mick Conroy, who was joined by another former Celt, Paul Elliott. They shared stories and experiences from their time in the Hoops, both looking back with a particular fondness for Celtic greats Billy McNeill and Paul McStay.
Next up we heard from the one and only Tosh McKinlay, who entertained everyone with his very unique brand of humour before our MC Tadhg Hickey had the unenviable task of following Tosh but he gave it a go aswell as getting the place up on their feet with a wonderful rendition of ‘Grace’.
After an auction and price draw, we had music from Celtic Park favourite, Liam McGrandles, who saw us out with a host of Celtic Classics, finishing with an amazing version of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, which had the entire room belting out the anthem.
Net proceeds from the events will support Celtic Fc Foundation’s project delivery in Ireland and we are delighted to see that a local charity will also gain with a donation being made to Cork Simon Community.
We would like to thank everyone who donated and took part.
We hope this goes on to be an annual event and grows even bigger
Hail Hail
