Journalist’s son is fundraising for Brú Columbanus in Cork

THE son of a well-known journalist who passed away and spent his last days in CUH is organising a fundraiser for Brú Columbanus which provided his family with acommodation during their stay in Cork.

Charlie Mulchrone, whose father Paddy was a well-known journalist who had moved to Crookhaven in his final years, is undertaking five marathons in 24 hours, next weekend.

‘Bru Columbanus provided my family with emergency accommodation during my father’s final few months at Cork University Hospital,’ said Charlie. ‘I want to give back as much as I can to the Cork community who rallied round my father in his final few months. At last count we are up to just over €4,000 but I would love to get the total as high as possible. Charlie recalled how much his father loved his time in West Cork. ‘Paddy was a proud resident of Crookhaven village where my mum Fiona still lives today. Dad had written a number of articles for The Southern Star over the years as a way of scratching his journalistic itch after retiring years earlier.’

The former Manchester Evening News reporter, who later worked for the Daily Mirror, died in 2020, having lived with liver cancer for more than a year. His father, Vincent Mulchrone, was a legendary Fleet Street reporter, who worked for the Daily Mail for 30 years in Manchester and London.

Paddy’s son Charlie, who lives in London, is a former Ireland U18, Harlequins and Worcester rugby player who has been coaching Harlequins for the last four years. He will undertake the marathons at Bounce Gym in Wimbledon starting at 4am and his last marathon will take place from the gym to Richmond Park, in- cluding four laps of the park and back.

‘Any donations (no matter how small) are massively appreciated, as are social media posts to spread the word,’ he said. ‘Anyone who fancies joining in – at any point, for any amount of time – it would mean the world to me to have some support in what is most likely going to be a pretty horrible 24 hours!’

Charlie is also splitting the funds with Looseheadz, a rugby-focused mental health charity, born out of Paddy’s home town club (Wilmslow RUFC).

‘Harlequins, and other social media platforms here in London, have been great at advertising the challenge on this side of the Irish sea,’ he said. The challenge takes place on Saturday June 24th and you can follow Charlie on Instagram and Twitter @cjmulchrone or donate by searching Charlie Mulchrone at justgiving.com.