Firefighters from the Fire Department in New York will join with members of the Irish Fire Brigade for a charity cycle from Dublin to Kinsale in Co. Cork next week. They will depart Dublin on Monday and arrive in Kinsale on September 11th, 23 years after the tragedy in New York.
On the day they arrive in Kinsale a sapling of a tree is being planted in the Garden of Remembrance. That sapling has been taken of The Survivor Tree from Ground Zero in New York, it was the only surviving thing that was found on Ground Zero after all the steel and rubble was removed and and it was nurtured back to life. The group are planting the sapling of that tree in the Garden of Remembrance in Kinsale on Wednesday the 11th of September on the 23rd anniversary of 9/11.
The 40 firefighters from New York are in Dublin for the charity event which starts on Monday 9th September. The cycle event, which will also see 50 firefighters from Ireland take part, will depart from the US Ambassador's residence in the Phoenix Park in Dublin on Monday and participants will cycle down the east coast via Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford and Cork. They will arrive in Kinsale at approximately 5pm on the 11th of September where they will proceed to the Garden of Remembrance in Kinsale.
The Garden of Remembrance is situated at Ringfinnan, Kinsale, and commemorates the 343 Firefighters and their chaplain Fr Michael Judge who died in the twin towers disaster in New York on 9/11.
The purpose of the cycle race is to raise funds for two charities which are the Friends of Firefighters of New York and Aoibheann’s Pink Tie. Friends of Firefighters of New York is a not-for-profit organisation that provides independent, confidential, and free mental health counselling and wellness services to active and retired FDNY firefighters and their family members and Aoibheann’s Pink Tie is a Registered charity and affiliated with St John's Oncology Ward in Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin. They are also affiliated with the Irish Cancer Society.
Event organiser, Steve McFadden said: “We are delighted to have so many firefighters give their time to take part in this event which will raise much needed funds for two really exceptional charities. We have organised this event to honour those that were lost on 9/11 and those we have lost since on both sides of the Atlantic. We are asking people if they can to support the event and give what they can towards the fundraising efforts. We hope it will be a very successful event for all.
This initiative traces back to a conversation between NYFD Battalion Chief of Third Battalion Hunts Point, Danny Sheridan, and NYFD Firefighter Pete McLoughlin in 1992. The idea was born around the kitchen table of the firehouse, stemming from their mutual dream of cycling around their ancestral homeland, Ireland. Sadly, Pete McLoughlin's life was tragically cut short on October 8th, 1995, while bravely battling a fire in Queens. Battalion Chief Danny Sheridan will cycle in honour of Pete, 32 years later. Our three-day journey is dedicated to commemorating the 23rd anniversary, with the goal of reaching the memorial on September 11th.”
More information on the cycle is available here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pm5syxx8FUpBMb6c/
