Rebel legend to saddle up for charity motorcycle ride
The former rebel great has agreed to donate a special piece of GAA memorabilia — featuring one of his greatest goals — for auction by the Rebel Riders Motorcycle Club in aid of Marymount Hospice.
And the five-times All-Ireland-winning dual star, who also won five All Star awards before going on to manage the county’s senior hurling squad to All-Ireland victory in 1999, will also take part in the club’s charity bike ride on Saturday.
But he will have to sit on an 1800CC Goldwing motorcycle which has a Kerry registration plate.
Rebel Riders club secretary and taxi driver John McCarthy persuaded Barry Murphy to get involved after a taxi ride.
“The idea came about when I collected Jimmy in my taxi and we got talking about healthcare in Cork,” he said.
He is donating a rare centenary plate, one of only a handful in the country, for auction.
It bears the iconic image of Barry Murphy in a falling position after he scored a goal against Galway during the 1973 All-Ireland football final.
It will be auctioned after the charity ride on Saturday to raise money for St Patrick’s Hospital (Cork) Ltd as it prepares to build its new hospital and hospice complex on the outskirts of the city.
Final tenders for the state-of-the-art 44-bed hospice and 75-bed hospital, with three elderly care wards and facilities for relatives to stay overnight, are being considered.
It is hoped the contract will be awarded within days, with construction starting on the 13-acre greenfield site between the Ballincollig bypass and Waterfall Road, near the Curraheen greyhound stadium.
Services are due to transfer from Marymount’s city centre hospice in late 2010.
The Department of Health is contributing €17.5m, with the balance coming from the proceeds of the sale of the Marymount Hospice facility on Wellington Road, a €10m grant from Atlantic Philanthropies and fundraising by groups like Rebel Riders.
Club members will leave from the Dunne’s Stores car park in Ballyvolane at 11am, through St Patrick’s Street and on to Macroom.
They will return to the Silver Key Pub in Ballinlough that night for the auction, which will include a signed Roy Keane jersey and a Munster Rugby jersey.
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