Walking the Walk this weekend in memory of Andrew McGinley's children 

As Darragh Did is a charitable initiative founded by Andrew McGinley following the death of Darragh, Conor, and Carla McGinley in 2020. Picture: Andrew McGinley/Conor's Clips

A 60km charity walk in memory of three young children who were killed by their mother will take place this weekend.

The two-day event, called Walking the Walk, has already raised more than €39,000 for community projects across Ireland through the charity As Darragh Did. 

The charity was set up by the children's father Andrew McGinley.

Mr McGinley’s three children — Conor, 9, Darragh, 7, and Carla, 3 — were killed by their mother, Deirdre Morley, at their home in Newcastle, Dublin when she was suffering a psychotic and depressive episode on January 24, 2020.

Ms Morley, a nurse, was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

The new charity walk starts in Mullingar on Saturday, and finish in Maynooth on Sunday.

Andrew McGinley with his children Carla, Darragh, and Conor McGinley. The children were slain by their mother when she was suffering a psychotic and depressive episode in 2020. Picture: Andrew McGinley/Conor's Clips

Participants in the walk will travel along the Royal Canal, a place frequently visited by siblings Conor, Darragh, and Carla during their short lives.

Conor and Darragh’s friends will join the walk for the last 6k.

“That will be quite emotional,” Mr McGinley said.

The reason I looked at this route is because my sister Michelle lives in Mullingar, she’s a keen amateur photographer so I must have thousands of pictures of the kids in Mullingar.

“Also the lullaby I used to sing to the kids was The Auld Triangle which has a line in it about the Royal Canal.

“And this was the route we used to take to go up to Donegal to see Granny and Grandad so we have a great affinity with Mullingar.

“And then we choose to end it in Maynooth because the university there was the only university Conor, Darragh, and Carla were ever at when they went to my sister’s graduation. And it’s nice to think that, had they survived, they’d have been back studying there one day.” 

Mr McGinley is now hoping to make this weekend’s charity walk an annual event.

“A charity needs funds so we do need it to raise funds,” he said.

“I found great peace and great solace from being out in nature and walking [after the children's deaths] so it was a no-brainer to do a walk.

“60k will be quite a long distance but a lot of people will be joining in at various stages of it.” 

As Darragh Did has already distributed more than €200,000, supporting 139 community clubs and groups since it was started in September 2021.

“We feel that we’ve found a bit of a niche because there are so many small clubs and groups and they just need a small leg up to provide a facility for people to get involved,” Mr McGinley said.

Friday was Darragh’s birthday.

“Darragh would be 12 today,” Mr McGinley said. “I had so many messages today from people thinking about Darragh.

“And we’ve opened a funding round today for As Darragh Did.

We’re encouraging any community clubs across the country to apply for funding where they have projects where they’re looking to increase participation or to encourage integration and inclusion. 

As Darragh Did has helped a wide range of community groups across Ireland encourage participation, integration, and inclusion - from children’s sports teams to retirement groups to community art projects.

It helped turn a handball team in Maynooth with three to four players and a court mostly used for parking into a thriving community resource with four underage handball teams.

It allowed girls to play camogie for the first time in Wanderers GAA club in Ballyboden, Dublin, which despite having more than 100 years GAA history had no camogie team before As Darragh Did sponsored it.

Funding to Haven Hub in Limerick has helped bring young men together to talk about mental health.

And the charity funded a community group to come together to paint murals on derelict buildings to brighten up their their village.

Darragh was involved in everything so this charity is to help people to get involved as Darragh did. That’s the message behind it.

“But we can’t do it unless we get the funds in. This is our annual fundraiser. Please, please, please support us.” 

Mr McGinley, who is originally from Donegal, set up projects in his children’s names following their tragic deaths which reflect their personalities and dreams.

As Darragh Did is a charity that funds community projects and encourages people to get involved in their local clubs and communities, like his son Darragh did.

Conor's Clips, a Youtube channel, was set up to keep a promise Mr McGinley had made to his son Conor that he would help him set up a channel to share funny videos.

Snowman for Carla is a colouring competition set up for his daughter who loved colouring and who Mr McGinley had promised to build a snowman for in late 2019. But she died months later before enough snow ever fell for him to be able to keep that promise.

“It’s these projects that drive me on now. They get me out of bed in the morning, they keep me going," Mr McGinley previously told the Irish Examiner.

• To donate, click on idonate.ie/event/WalkingTheWalkWithAsDarraghDid online.