Kilimanjaro awaits for Eleanor as she climbs for Alzheimer Society of Ireland

Eleanor Siochrú is a Cork native – from Ballydaly, near Millstreet, to be exact – but she is now living well beyond the county bounds in Burnham, outside Dingle town.

So she’s well accustomed to venturing beyond her comfort zone, and she’ll prove that again later this month, but this time it’ll be a bigger ask than leaving the Rebel County for the Kingdom.

On February 18, she’ll be part of a group climbing Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. She’ll do so to raise funds for The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, and with good reason.

“My husband Ronan’s grandmother [Gretta] died about two and a half years ago, and she had suffered with it, so it’s in memory of her, but it’s something that has touched every family and I want this to keep that in mind as well,” she told The Kerryman.

Eleanor is by no means a stranger to taking on a great adventure, best proven by her trip to Machu Picchu in South America about five years ago, but most of her training for the upcoming climb has been carried out locally.

“I’m playing football with Dingle, the ladies football club, we started about three or four weeks ago, and I train twice a week with them,” she said. “I also go to a gym in Killorglin and climb Mount Brandon, I try to do it once a week but at least once every two weeks.

“The target, starting off, was to raise €500 for The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, but we’ve already gone beyond that, and the more we bring in, the better!” she added.

If you’d like to support Eleanor’s very worthy fundraising effort, you can do so on the dedicated JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/eleanor-siochru.