Charlie Bird

I came late in life to Bruce Springsteen. However, I have seen him perform twice — once in Kilkenny and the last time in Dublin. But Brucie has now entered ...

My situation galvanised my family further, because they knew just how much it would have meant to me to make it to the top of Croagh Patrick. And so, on the day of the climb, when my family made it to the top and called me from the summit, it was a beautiful moment. One of Charlie’s team recorded the moment Charlie sombrely took out his five candles and lit them for each of his intentions, the first of which was for me. Throughout that morning and afternoon, I followed friends and followers on Instagram and Facebook and congratulated them on their achievement of reaching the top of Croagh Patrick. As the crowd swelled and Daniel O’Donnell took to the stage to announce Charlie’s arrival, the whole summit exploded with emotion like I have never seen before. Talk of which sticks to bring and what clothes to wear distracted us all from the fact that I was now shuffling around from A to B on a Zimmer frame and in no shape whatsoever to make the trip out west. However, my family undertook to make the four-hour trip from Co Kilkenny to Co Mayo to climb on my behalf. Putting together the Climb With Charlie book — in a matter of weeks thanks to Merrion Press — since that special day has made the memories all the more real. I have never climbed Croagh Patrick and, at 47 years of age and terminally ill with cancer, I know that I never will. Brucie, singing Land of Hope and Dreams. If good fortune is still with me, hopefully I will get to see him sing it at one of his concerts in Dublin next May. Maybe myself, Daniel [O’Donnell] and Bruce will get to sing it together. The people of Ireland and many places abroad took this whole idea to heart, and they were the ones who turned it into a remarkable day that will never be forgotten. For weeks before the climb, I had be mulling over in my head what I wanted to do there. And then Matt Molloy, who is a local hero from Westport and, of course, a member of The Chieftains, took out his flute and began to play a few tunes. Well, that is exactly what happened on the day of Climb With Charlie on April 2.