'Jimmy will be able to come home!': Appeal for Cork singer raises enough for his return to Cobh
A file image of Jimmy Crowley from 2025: “I've been in the Stroke Ward in Cork University Hospital for nearly five months now." File picture: Chani Anderson
A fundraiser calling for support for Cork folk musician and song collector Jimmy Crowley after he opened up about his cancer diagnosis and a stroke that followed has raised more than €66,000 in less than 24 hours.
On Thursday afternoon, Crowley, who started collecting music at the age of 16, shared that he was diagnosed with stage three oesophageal cancer in September last year.
In a post published to Facebook, he informed the “dear people of this beautiful city and beyond” of the news and explained that he was calling on them “as a last resort”, sharing a link to the fundraising page.
Less than an hour after posting the message, the fundraiser had reached almost €6,000. On Friday morning, that figure had jumped to more than €48,500. By 5pm on Friday, the figure had reached €66,000, prompting an update from Crowley's wife, Eve.
"We're so overwhelmed by the donations here. Thank you all so much! We're at a loss for words, to be honest," she wrote on the dedicated GoFundMe page.
"Thanks to you all, we will be able to afford a live-in carer, and Jimmy will be able to come home! We'll leave the GoFundMe open for now, and further contributions will go towards all the major house modifications and increasing medical expenses."
In an initial post published to Facebook on Thursday, Crowley wrote: “I've been rather under the weather of late. In late September 2025, I was diagnosed with Stage Three oesophageal cancer. Three months later, on 27th December, I had a debilitating stroke.
“I've been in the Stroke Ward in Cork University Hospital for nearly five months now. I had a good many setbacks and complications during that time, including several falls which resulted in a hip replacement and then periprosthetic surgery on the same hip.
"I am now mostly wheelchair-bound, but have not given up on learning to walk.”
Crowley reminisced about his life as a full-time musician, cyclist, all-year-round sea-swimmer, and walker before his cancer diagnosis and stroke.
He explained that all he wants is to be able to return home, but that it would require support in the form of two full-time carers.
“Now all I want is to be able to return home to Cobh, to my pussycat Smudge and my sweetheart Eve. I'm soon to be discharged from CUH, and the choice is stark: home or nursing home,” he wrote.
“Unfortunately, the only way I can return home is if I have two carers living with me 24/ 7. My partner Eve will be a full-time carer, but I need a second carer. I kindly request any donations, large or small, to help me afford a second live-in carer so I can finally return to Cobh and live at home, rather than in a nursing home, for the time I have left.”
He assured that all donations will also help with the rising costs of suddenly having to live with not one but two life-changing health conditions.
Click here to learn more about Crowley's fundraising campaign.
