Kinsale RNLI receives $5,000 from Irish expats in San Francisco to help save lives at sea

Thursday, 25 February 2021 17:09

Vlunteers at Kinsale RNLI say like many other RNLI stations they have been unable to pursue their normal fundraising activities due to Covid-19 restrictions, and say a cheque they recently recently for over $5,000 from a group of Irish expatriates in the USA is a huge boost.

McCarthy’s Bar in San Francisco became an unlikely outpost for the lifeboat thanks to Kinsale native John Farley who has lived there for the past 30 years.

The bar is owned by Eileen McCarthy from Drinagh, West Cork. John is a lifelong supporter of the RNLI with first hand experience of their work after he, his sister and his niece were rescued a number of years ago when their boat broke down off the Old Head.

Towards the end of the American NFL season, John organised a football pool with 25 friends, many from West Cork, for the final four San Francisco 49er games. They raised an incredible $5,200.

This is the largest single donation received by Kinsale RNLI since lockdown was introduced in March last, and will go a long way towards funding the essential service that has remained on call throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. John and Eileen McCarthy have now installed an official RNLI collection box in McCarthy’s bar so fundraising can continue into the future.

John Farley said: ‘We all appreciate that that RNLI is there for us when we need them, so we wanted to be there for them in their hour of need.’