This article is from page 9 of the 2006-03-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
THE LIFE of a much-loved Tulla man was celebrated at a night in his honour and the honour of brave searchers who spent 10 days looking for him.
Members of the Doolin coastguard, friends, neighbours and workmates gathered in Tulla at the invite of the family of tragic Joe O’Callaghan.
Joe and his two pals, Mick Doran from Broadford and Martin Griffin from Ennis, died when the jeep in which they had been travelling, went over the cliffs at Doolin on October 31.
At the weekend, the bereaved Tulla family organised an evening to raise money for the Doolin rescue service and “to thank all of the people who helped in the search and people who were so good to our family then and since,” said Joe’s sister, Arda.
Last Wednesday would have been Joe’s 35th birthday and the family decided to hold the fundraiser as close to the date as possible.
“We couldn’t possibly go round and thank all of the people individually who helped us, so this is a way of saying thank you and of celebrating Joe,” said Arda.
She revealed that during the terrible search for Joe’s body, helpers travelled from as far away as Barretstown Children’s Camp in Meath, where the young Tulla man volunteered to help sick children by building a pet farm for them.
“Joe’s girlfriend, Louise, is a camp director there and he worked there. They came down by bus and went back at night, then another bus-load arrived each day. People came from Cork as well. Local people were also fabulous. They joined the search and they kept calling to my family, even after it was all over.”
Among the prizes won at Saturday night’s event was a €1,000 spot prize donated by Browne Brothers Landscaping in association with Geaney in West Cork and weekends away, courtesy of Lynch hotels.