Latest news with #MarymountHospice
Irish Examiner
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Roy Keane returns to Cork ahead of three nights of conversation at LATM
Fans of Roy Keane will be in for a treat over the next week or so, as the Corkman returns home for a stint at Live at the Marquee. The ex-footballer-turned-pundit will be speaking with Roddy Doyle in the iconic tent on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Tickets sold out well in advance for the conversation. ★ ★ 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗔 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗘𝗗 ★ ★ 📢 Due to demand, an extra date has been added for Roy Keane in conversation with Roddy Doyle on 8 July 2025 ⚽️ 🎫 Tickets on sale This Friday at 9AM — LATMofficial (@LATMofficial) November 6, 2024 The former Manchester United star has been a frequent visitor to his home county in recent years. He has done plenty of charity work, be it for Marymount Hospice or Cork Penny Dinners, or surprising a die-hard Manchester United fan in the Mercy Hospital in May. A topic that is likely to be visited at the Marquee tent is the upcoming Saipan film. It will see Éanna Hardwicke star as the Mayfield man in the dramatic recreation of perhaps Keane's most infamous moment at the 2002 World Cup. A row with then-Ireland manager Mick McCarthy (played by Steve Coogan in the film) led to Keane leaving the World Cup squad. It won't be the first time that Doyle has been involved with Keane either, having collaborated on the footballer's second autobiography, The Second Half, in 2014. Speaking to the Irish Examiner last year about that process, Doyle reflected: 'My father loved Roy. I remember Roy telling me about the early days when he was managing Sunderland, and the kit man was in charge of the music — he put on Abba's Greatest Hits and he said Roy just watched his team running out on the pitch while listening to 'Dancing Queen'. 'The way Roy told it, I was listening to it again and again, tears were coming out of me, it was just so funny."
Irish Independent
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Watch: 78-year-old Cork man skydives to earth at a rate of a mile a minute for sick children charity
After 'several' visits to his GP to get a certificate and armed with 'Ted the Red' - one of around 50,000 teddies Liam has delivered to sick children in hospitals across Cork and Kerry over the past 13 years– in his belt, the pensioner can comfortably say his has been one of the most unique jumps in the club's history. 'I initially thought it was a parachute jump from about five or six thousand feet,' said Liam, who started delivering the teddies, which provide comfort and companionship to sick children stuck in hospitals across the South-West. 'When I realised what I had signed up for, which was a skydive from 13,000 feet – that's about two and a half feckin' miles up! 'When someone opens up the door of an aeroplane at 13,000 feet, it's the most unnatural thing that anyone can do. Once you get to the door, you become a safety hazard, so the safest way is out. The instructor told me, hang our legs out and I'll do the rest. 'The next thing I knew, I was on my back and looking up at the plane I had just been in. 'You come straight down for the first mile at about 120 miles per hour, which is absolutely brilliant. I don't have too much hair but what I had almost left me at that point! But the feeling is absolutely unreal' the 78-year-old says, who admitted he wasn't an adrenaline junkie of any kind before signing up for the plunge. 'Then he opens the parachute, and I can tell you, the sensation from there down is just fantastic, because you're looking down on the whole countryside. You can see woods, lakes, fields, farms, everything, a real bird's eye view of the countryside, it was fantastic! 'Would I do it again? No bloody way!' Skydiving with teddy bear for sick children The idea for the skydive came when Liam's daughter, Amanda, had put herself forward to do the same for Marymount Hospice in the city. However, the generational gap made the ordeal slightly more complicated for the pensioner, who is originally from Crosshaven but now lives in Bantry. Further complications arrived when the jump was twice postponed due to inclement weather. 'Come on, you're 78 years old, do something for charity, do something for the teddy bears,' Liam told himself when signing up for the freefall. 'It was grand until about six months out, but as the time got closer, I got grumpier and more worried. 'At that stage, I had collected €6,500 euro and I decided to pay for the jump myself. I had collected a lot of money from different friends and businesses here in Bantry, and I said if I chicken out I'm giving every single one of those people their money back. 'I have to say, the lads and lassies in the Irish Parachute Club are absolutely brilliant in putting you at ease. I jumped with this guy called Darren Clarke who was absolutely fantastic, and he allowed me to put the teddy bear inside the harness. I can confidently say I'm the only one ever to do that! 'So, I now have the bear, that jumped 13,000 feet, and 'Ted the Red' will be up for auction at our Gala Ball in September.' 30 years delivering teddies to Cork and Kerry hospitals Liam has already collected €7,000 through the jump, which will allow him to purchase thousands of more teddy bears, which he says can provide an essential service for children who need hospital care. 'If a small child goes into hospital, it's often in an emergency, and they mightn't have time to bring their favourite toy in with them, so we put these little teddy bears into A&E units, and they're given out at the nurses' discretion to kids who they think will benefit. 'It all started about 30 years ago when Freemasons in Ireland introduced 'Teddies for Loving Care' to Ireland. I'm a Freemason myself, so I distributed them through Bantry, Mallow, CUH, Mercy, and Tralee hospitals, said Liam, who added that his own lodge in Skibbereen were a huge help in organising the audacious jump. 'If you're small, you're lying there in the bed, there's strange people around you, you're being bombarded with questions, you mightn't be feeling well…and then a nurse comes along and gives you a little gift. I can guarantee you; you'll have a bond with that nurse forevermore, you'll remember them.' So how does the 78-year-old top his 13,000-foot plunge? 'It took me a very long time to get this past my wife, so we'll let the dust settle for a while before we go again!' In the meantime, you can donate to Liam's fundraiser by clicking the link here.
Irish Independent
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
78-year-old Cork man skydives to earth at a rate of a mile a minute for sick children charity
After 'several' visits to his GP to get a certificate and armed with 'Ted the Red' - one of around 50,000 teddies Liam has delivered to sick children in hospitals across Cork and Kerry over the past 13 years– in his belt, the pensioner can comfortably say his has been one of the most unique jumps in the club's history. 'I initially thought it was a parachute jump from about five or six thousand feet,' said Liam, who started delivering the teddies, which provide comfort and companionship to sick children stuck in hospitals across the South-West. 'When I realised what I had signed up for, which was a skydive from 13,000 feet – that's about two and a half feckin' miles up! 'When someone opens up the door of an aeroplane at 13,000 feet, it's the most unnatural thing that anyone can do. Once you get to the door, you become a safety hazard, so the safest way is out. The instructor told me, hang our legs out and I'll do the rest. 'The next thing I knew, I was on my back and looking up at the plane I had just been in. 'You come straight down for the first mile at about 120 miles per hour, which is absolutely brilliant. I don't have too much hair but what I had almost left me at that point! But the feeling is absolutely unreal' the 78-year-old says, who admitted he wasn't an adrenaline junkie of any kind before signing up for the plunge. 'Then he opens the parachute, and I can tell you, the sensation from there down is just fantastic, because you're looking down on the whole countryside. You can see woods, lakes, fields, farms, everything, a real bird's eye view of the countryside, it was fantastic! 'Would I do it again? No bloody way!' The idea for the skydive came when Liam's daughter, Amanda, had put herself forward to do the same for Marymount Hospice in the city. However, the generational gap made the ordeal slightly more complicated for the pensioner, who is originally from Crosshaven but now lives in Bantry. Further complications arrived when the jump was twice postponed due to inclement weather. 'Come on, you're 78 years old, do something for charity, do something for the teddy bears,' Liam told himself when signing up for the freefall. 'It was grand until about six months out, but as the time got closer, I got grumpier and more worried. 'At that stage, I had collected €6,500 euro and I decided to pay for the jump myself. I had collected a lot of money from different friends and businesses here in Bantry, and I said if I chicken out I'm giving every single one of those people their money back. 'I have to say, the lads and lassies in the Irish Parachute Club are absolutely brilliant in putting you at ease. I jumped with this guy called Darren Clarke who was absolutely fantastic, and he allowed me to put the teddy bear inside the harness. I can confidently say I'm the only one ever to do that! ADVERTISEMENT Learn more 'So, I now have the bear, that jumped 13,000 feet, and 'Ted the Red' will be up for auction at our Gala Ball in September.' Liam has already collected €7,000 through the jump, which will allow him to purchase thousands of more teddy bears, which he says can provide an essential service for children who need hospital care. 'If a small child goes into hospital, it's often in an emergency, and they mightn't have time to bring their favourite toy in with them, so we put these little teddy bears into A&E units, and they're given out at the nurses' discretion to kids who they think will benefit. 'It all started about 30 years ago when Freemasons in Ireland introduced 'Teddies for Loving Care' to Ireland. I'm a Freemason myself, so I distributed them through Bantry, Mallow, CUH, Mercy, and Tralee hospitals, said Liam, who added that his own lodge in Skibbereen were a huge help in organising the audacious jump. 'If you're small, you're lying there in the bed, there's strange people around you, you're being bombarded with questions, you mightn't be feeling well…and then a nurse comes along and gives you a little gift. I can guarantee you; you'll have a bond with that nurse forevermore, you'll remember them.' So how does the 78-year-old top his 13,000-foot plunge? 'It took me a very long time to get this past my wife, so we'll let the dust settle for a while before we go again!'
