Students rolling in money

by Tom Kenny

In 1961 a group of 11 students from UCG decided to roll a barrel from Galway to Dublin and to collect money for the relief of famine and suffering in the Congo on the way. They wanted to roll the barrel, but the bands fell off before they got to St Patrick’s Church, so they borrowed an old pram from someone.

They walked to Ballinasloe on the first day. By that stage, the pram on which the barrel was mounted ‘gave up the ghost’ but a local auctioneer provided them with a replacement. People were generous and helpful, the military in Custume Barracks in Athlone provided them with entertainment and a meal. In other locations, they were given free hotel accommodation and meals.

At Kinnegad, the weight of the barrel proved too much for the pram and the local blacksmith was called in to reinforce it. The students, who wished to remain anonymous, eventually arrived, somewhat thirsty and footsore, at the Guinness Brewery in St James’ Gate where this photograph was taken, and where they presented Major General J Sweeney, the general secretary of the Red Cross, with the proceeds of their walk, £135. This was a lot of money in those days. Messrs Guinness presented them with the barrel as a souvenir and it was placed in a glass case in UCG.

The following year, six UCG students decided to go on a longer walk to collect money for the Freedom from Hunger Campaign. So Tom Browne, Paddy Fox, Pat Donohue, Jim Muldowney, P Phelan, and Eamonn McGuire hitched to Belfast. The Mayor of Belfast Martin Wallace pushed them off as they wheeled two dustbins from there to Dublin, and then on to Galway. They averaged about 30 miles a day, slept the first night in Banbridge, the second in Marist College, Dundalk, then Gormanston College, and they reached Dublin on the fourth day. Clarkes of Dundalk presented each of them with a pair of suede shoes which meant nobody had any foot trouble on the way. In County Down, the RUC barred them from collecting anything and sent a constable to follow them to make sure they obeyed the order.

The Lord Mayor, Mr Briscoe, saw them off from Dublin on the road to Galway. Again the support from the public was very good, in Kilbeggan, the local band accompanied them from one end of the town to the other. They were guests of honour at various functions along the way, which helped promote their cause. They found the experience extraordinary and paid tribute to the Gardai, AA, and to the hoteliers who helped them. The Mayor of Galway, Paddy Ryan, and the town clerk, PJ Watters, walked the last mile into town with them. They had collected £250, a huge sum in 1962.

Our photograph shows the 1961 group, from left: Ger Tuohy, Ray Walsh, Paddy Fox, Billy Walsh, Peter Flanagan, Paddy Walsh (half hidden ), Manus McLafferty, Paddy Donoghue (in the hat ), Johnny Rooney, and Kevin ‘Doc’ Doherty. Our thanks to Paddy Fox for the above.