By Michelle Crean

The original fundraising target was €2,000 - but local man David Looney smashed that by raising over a whopping €15,000!

PROCEEDS: David Looney pictured handing over the funds from his charity run to Cathal Walshe PRO of Kerry Hospice in the Tatler Jack.

David set up a GoFundMe page '170 Miles in November in memory of Geraldine' as a thank you to Kerry Hospice for the care his sister-in-law Geraldine O'Connor (49) received during her illness. She sadly passed away in November 2021.

He timed the run to conclude on the anniversary of Geraldine's death, and went out in all kinds of weather.

For his efforts he managed to raise €15,445. David, who is manager of the popular pub Tatler Jack invited all the O'Connor clan to the presentation function at the pub before Christmas.

There, Cathal Walshe, PRO of Kerry Hospice, thanked David and everyone who contributed to the venture.

"It means a lot to the Foundation and as the late Ted Moynihan said "you hope you will never need the Hospice, but the Hospice will always need you"," Cathal said.

"I am absolutely delighted and overwhelmed with the amount raised," David told the Killarney Advertiser.

"We had donors from nearly every corner of the world, from Australia to China to America and Canada. I would like to sincerely thank every single donor. Their generosity helped us give a huge thank you to Kerry Hospice and the wonderful staff in the Palliative Care Unit UHK for the amazing care Geraldine received. I would also like to thank local media including Killarney Advertiser and my workplace Tatler Jack (social media) for the support in publicising the fundraiser.

"Also a huge thank you to Chris Davies from Reboot Recovery for the use of his facilities during the month - I don’t think I would have made it without that place!"