A Donegal priest is to try his hand at boxing to help raise funds for the restoration of St Eunan’s cathedral in Letterkenny.
Fr Damian McGroarty is one of twenty-four people who have signed up
for a fund-raising Big Fight Night in the Clanree Hotel on April 2.
It
will be the young curate’s first time to step into a boxing ring,
although, as he revealed at the launch of the event, he was involved in
athletics in his youth.
Fr McGroarty, who is a native of Fanad in north Donegal and a priest
in the Leck and Conwal parish, is one of the Raphoe diocese’s youngest
clergy and was only ordained last year.
He said he “has nothing to be
nervous about because I’m not fit and my calves are in bits,” admitting
that he found that during the training sessions.
He and the other participants in the fund-raiser fight are
undertaking a strict training regime twice a week at the Letterkenny
Boxing Club Gymnasium.
“I suppose you can push yourself as hard as you like - this is a
completely different discipline, even things like how you move your
feet,” said Fr McGroarty.
The administrator of St Eunan’s, Fr Eamonn Kelly, revealed that just
over €500,000 has been spent on the cathedral’s renovation project to
date, with another €200,000 to be spent.
Saint Eunan's was built between 1890 and 1900 in Victorian neo-Gothic
style and is regarded as one of the country’s most ornate cathedrals.
The Cathedral went through a restoration process in 1985.