Cycle for Conor raises extraordinary €100,000 for Dromahair ARC

“This is just our little way of saying thanks” - the words of Kevin Torsney and Clodagh McGowan as they presented a cheque for €100,000 to the Dromahair Area Recreation Centre last Saturday night and a fitting memorial to their late son Conor.

Conor Torsney passed away suddenly on June 18, 2024 and almost a year later, the Dromahair community gathered on Saturday June 14, to undertake the “Cycle for Conor”, a 90Km fundraising cycle that passed through Leitrim, Sligo and Roscommon and energised the entire community.

Dromahair celebrated a poignant yet uplifting moment when the parents of the late Conor Torsney made a presentation of €100,000 to the Dromahair Area Recreational Centre, the proceeds of the extremely successful “Cycle for Conor” last June.

Kevin Torsney and his wife Clodagh McGowan presented the cheque at a special function  at Stafford's on Saturday night for those who participated in the 90km cycle on Saturday June 14, last, the cycle starting and finishing in Dromahair and travelling via Drumkeerin, Drumshanbo, Leitrim village, Battlebridge, Keadue, Ballyfarnon, Geevagh, Sooey, Ballygawley & Ballintogher.

Kevin Torsney and his wife Clodagh McGowan present a cheque for €100,000 to the Dromahair Area Recreational Centre Chairperson Fergus Meehan and Secretary Margaret O'Donnell outside Stafford's in Dromahair last Saturday surrounded by participants and supporters who took part in the “Cycle for Conor” event last April in memory of their late son Conor Torsney Picture: Willie Donnellan

The money will go towards the provision of a new playing surface for the GAA pitch at the Dromahair Area Recreation Centre and the proceeds of the “Cycle for Conor” to DARC was, in their words, a way of saying thanks for the wonderful support they had received in the aftermath of their great loss.

“It's just a small way of saying thanks to everybody in the community and how supportive they've been since what happened to Conor,” Clodagh told the Observer, “They've been so supportive. This is just our little way of saying thanks and giving something back to the community.”

Never did they expect the response the event got according to Kevin: “I had a figure in mind, maybe half of that maybe and I was being optimistic but to get to the figure that we got, it's amazing. It's incredible. On the day we had 60 cyclists doing the cycle. 

“We had a fundraising online through a GoFundMe page and that just kept increasing, it took off. I'd say about half the money came in on that and the other half came in through sponsorship cards given to the 60 cyclists. A good few businesses came on board and sponsored us and gave us money towards it as well - it was incredible.”

The money raised will go towards the provision of a new playing surface for the GAA pitch at DARC, a fitting memorial to Conor with a special remembrance garden also opened at the facility: “We wanted to do something in his memory,” said Clodagh, “but we also wanted to thank the community for the way they supported us after Conor's death and around the time of the funeral.”

Kevin continued “Conor was into cycling, he used to do mountain biking and we decided that we'd do a cycle in his memory and then of course the park because it's the centre of the community here really - he spent a lot of time in the park so we decided that we'd do it as a fundraiser for that. 

“We knew that there was a serious amount of money needed to do the work on it and while there was grant funding available, it still was well short of what we needed.”

In a speech before the presentation to Fergus Meehan & Margaret O'Donnell of DARC, Kevin & Clodagh thanked all the cyclists who took part in the event, all those who had supported the event in any way and the businesses who came on board to help make the event such a success.

Fergus Meehan spoke of the deep gratitude of the DARC for the generosity of the Torsney family and what the funds raised would do for the badly needed sporting facilities in the Dromahair area.