‘The grief never goes away' – Kerry village leads from the front in global memorial fundraising walks

Irish Independent

2 days ago

Instead though, the brave and resilient pair – who are American natives but who have called Sneem in South Kerry home for nearly 30 years now – decided that instead of mourning their son, they would turn his anniversary into a global celebration and one that helped to raise thousands for their chosen charity of Brú Columbanus.
The pair's son, Sean Patrick Connelly, was killed on June 4, 2005, when he was driven off the road by a road rage driver in the U.S. It's a pain that never truly leaves either of them, something that they told The Kerryman this week.
"It was definitely an emotional day. I had a couple of little meltdowns where the emotions took over. Even 20 years later, the emotions can take over. It [the grief] doesn't ever go away, it changes yes, but it never goes away,' said Maureen, speaking about how Saturday went for her and Bob.
Saturday's 5km walk in Sneem was just one of 22 global sponsored walks in total that took place simultaneously in a number of different countries around the world, including the Netherlands and Germany; 18 walks took place meanwhile in 11 different states in the U.S with all of these walks united by their shared goal of honouring Sean's legacy and raising money for a charity close to Bob and Maureen's hearts.
"We couldn't have asked for any better. We were overwhelmed at the success of it [the walk]. Two of our son's best friends, flew over from Florida for the walk here in Sneem which was just so amazing,' said Bob.
"We're thinking that there was probably close to 200 people there on Saturday. It's beyond anything that we ever expected,' added Maureen.
"I wrote a thank you letter about the day and there's just too many people to name separately but the main group that deserves special thanks is the people of Sneem. They all came out and it was just so amazing to see such great numbers come out and support this great charity in memory of our dear son,' Maureen continued.
"We were overwhelmed with the turnout and thank each and every person from the bottom of our hearts,' she said.
Although the rain threatened to spoil the day for them at times, both Bob and Maureen say that they know Sean was looking down on the day and pulled some strings to make sure that the clouds parted and that the sun came out.
From a global perspective, Maureen said that all of the other fundraising walks in different locations around the world were absolutely "fantastic", especially the one in Tampa where Sean was born and raised. Here, Maureen said, all of Sean's friends got together afterward at the pub where they used to hang out to celebrate his memory.
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"As much we wanted to share Sean's memory, raising money for Brú is far more important and we hope that we raised as much money as possible for them, they deserve it."
As to why the pair chose Brú Columbanus as their charity of choice, Bob told The Kerryman back in May that it was all down to him having to have open heart surgery last year.
"Last year, I had open heart surgery, and my wife was going back and forth from Sneem to the hospital in Cork, and it was then that someone recommended Brú Columbanus. I was in the hospital for 17 days, but she was able to stay in accommodation provided by Brú, and amazingly, there was no charge. It all just relies on donations, and we made sure to give them a very nice donation,' said Bob.
"That's when we got the idea of doing this upcoming walk in aid of Brú because the work that they do and the service that they provide is just so amazing,' he continued.