If you see him, you’ll do a double take. He’s St. Patrick’s in the flesh.

Tom Keefe took on the persona of St. Patrick on a whim back in 2013 when a friend and Irish pub owner in Spokane asked him to add a bit of spice to the annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

After all he had played an integral role in tying the cities of Seattle and Galway together as sister cities when he worked as legal advisor for Seattle Mayor Charles Royer in the 1980’s; he is dedicated to his heritage and let’s face it…he looks the part.

He sees St. Patrick as a crusader for human rights who spoke out against slavery. Keefe himself is also a saintly protector of rights for the Native American Indians, having legally defended David SoHappy in a history-making battle over native American fishing rights on the Columbia River.

So when he decided to turn that case into a book, he decided on Ireland as where he wanted to settle for a few months to write. He landed in Skibbereen as a quiet and notable town for a home away from home.

I saw a presentation he did on the fishing rights case at the Galway City Museum a few weeks ago and it was fascinating. He’s just finished up his sabbatical to write and has headed back to the Pacific Northwest.

But it’s kind of a hobby of his to show up as St. Patrick, in Skibbereen, Galway, Spokane, Seattle and even in whimsical places like on a school bus in Ireland or climbing an 8 th century tower in Clondalkin.

He says he dons the vestments whenever the spirit moves him. So keep your eyes peeled. You never know where he’ll surface next.

Former RTE Operation Transformation Finalist Ronan Scully is organising a Bay to Bay 300km walk from Dingle to Galway for charity.

Ronan Scully will put his best foot forward with some of his lifelong friends again this year, as he celebrates his 51st year and his 26th year working for various causes in the Developing word with Gorta Self Help Africa.

Ronan Scully is using his 51st birthday in August to do what he does best as he aims to raise much needed funds for some worthy causes especially Gorta Self Help Africa, The Galway Rape Crisis Centre and a charity close to his heart, Rosabel’s Rooms in partnership with the Irish Hospice Foundation who are all helping many families and children in need in Africa and Ireland with a week-long ‘BaytoBay Walk’ from Dingle Bay in County Kerry up along the west coast to his home in Galway a mere 300km’s.

The charity walk will enable him to celebrate two memorable milestones too as he will also use the occasion to celebrate 26 years in the world of international development and charity.

Paying tribute to all who have supported him in his efforts over the past 26 years, Ronan Scully said that the upcoming cross-country walk would give him a chance to say thank you to so many people who had supported him in his work with some of the poorest people, families and children on our planet.

“I am looking at it as a prayerful journey and a celebration – of my own milestone, the time that I spent working for charity, and also of the many incredible people who I’ve crossed paths with in this line of work over the past 26 years and who gave so much of themselves so that we could help so many people, families and children in need around our world,” he said.

“The Irish people are amongst the most generous people in the world. I feel very blessed, privileged and humbled to be able to do what I do, and to know that so many people have been willing to give their time, their hard earned money and their efforts to support a host of good causes.”

Having worked for a number of years with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, Ronan Scully then spent more than a decade in India, Nepal, Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sierra Leone, and continues this work as business development coordinator in the West of Ireland with Gorta-Self Help Africa.

The upcoming 300km trip is a sort of Irish Camino for Ronan and friends and will start from the parish church in Dingle on Sunday 5th August next, and will conclude with a 5k charity walk on the promenade in Salthill, Galway, on Sunday afternoon at 3pm on the 12th August.

All are welcome to join him at the Claddagh Hall in Galway to walk the Salthill Prom for this event and register at the Claddagh hall that day for the 5km walk and make a donation of €15 towards the charities or whatever people can afford.

Offaly-born Ronan will be joined at different stages of the walk by family, friends and supporters, on his prayerful and celebratory journey up through the west coast of Ireland along the Atlantic Way who have to date donated funds to the charities who will benefit from the walk – Gorta-Self Help Africa, the Galway Rape Crisis Centre and Rosabel Rooms in partnership with The Irish Hospice Foundation.

“We have a number of social events and gatherings arranged along the route, and there will be various sports people and others joining me at different stages of the trip,” he said.

A former RTE Operation Transformation finalist, Ronan Scully has organised races, walks, climbs, social events, charity galas, and fundraising expeditions too numerous to mention through the years, and even undertook a hike to the North Pole in aid of various charities a number of years ago that was kindly funded by Richard Donovan, founder of the North Pole Marathon/Global Running’s.

Participants are welcome to join Ronan at any stage along the route but especially on his final 5km walk along the Prom in Galway at 3pm on the Sunday 12th August, or to donate directly to his appeal by contacting any of the charities or at ronan.scully@selfhelpafrica.org.

For further information contact: Ronan at (087) 6189094 and for further information on the Charities go to www.selfhelpafrica.org / www.hospicefoundation.ie / www.galwayrcc.org

For those who would like to donate to the cause you can do so at this link here: https://www.altruism.ie/fundraising_page/self-help-africa-fundraising-page-for-self-help-africa-08caabb6-3076-49b2-bffd-44c12d691853