Clergy members complete ‘journey of hope’ across Cork for Christian Aid 

A member of the clergy from Carrigaline and his counterpart from Bandon have completed a walking pilgrimage across Cork, raising 10k for poverty-stricken farmers and their families in West Africa.

During May and June Rev Tony Murphy of Carrigaline and Rev Andrew Coleman underook a ‘journey of hope’, visiting all 22 parishes in the Church of Ireland Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross along the way.

They walked with parishioners at each location to raise awareness and funds for a Christian Aid project that is helping farmers in Sierra Leone who were forced from their land by a huge palm oil plantation.

Without access to land to grow food, hundreds of people in Malen chiefdom in the south of the country were plunged into poverty.

One of those impacted is Hawa Sannoh, who explained that his father’s land was sold without his consent.

“He used to have lots of land where he would grow palm oil, fruit and vegetables. He was left with nothing.”

Helping displaced families

The Christian Aid project, supported by Cork Diocese, is helping the displaced families to grow food, find new sources of income, and rebuild their lives.

Rev Tony and Rev Andrew began their pilgrimage in Youghal, visiting every parish before completed their walk in Crookhaven.

Even after their trek donations continued to come in, and it wasn’t until the Cork Diocesan Synod held last month at Bandon Grammar School, that the clergymen were able to reveal that their walk had raised an incredible €10,000.

The pair presented their cheque to Ruth Cooke, Christian Aid Ireland’s head of fundraising and supporter engagement.

“Cork’s kindness is reaching people in Sierra Leone,” said Ms Cooke.

“We are very grateful to Rev Tony and Rev Andrew and to the all the kind parishioners who supported their efforts so generously.”

She later made a presentation to Synod in which she described the impact of Cork’s fundraising on the communities who have been forced from their farmland.

Launched in October 2024 by the then Bishop of Cork, the Rt Rev Dr Paul Colton and named Liloma – meaning ‘hope’ in the local Mende language, the Cork Diocesan Appeal for Sierra Leone aims to raise €45,000 over three years.

During the term of the Liloma appeal, all donations made within Cork Diocese to Bishop’s Appeal (the overseas aid and development programme of the Church of Ireland) are allocated to supporting the project in Sierra Leone, boosting the sum raised by the clergymen’s pilgrimage.

The Sierra Leone project is especially close to Rev Tony’s heart because he served as a volunteer teacher in the east of the country in the 1970s.

Deep commitment

Rev Andrew also has a deep commitment to international development, having served as Christian Aid’s Church and Community Officer until 2025 when he retired from the charity, and was ordained into local ministry in Cork diocese.

This was not the first time that Rev Tony and Rev Andrew have laced up their walking boots in support of a Christian Aid project to tackle poverty. In 2021, the pair helped to raise thousands of euro for Christian Aid’s work in Burundi, visiting and walking with parishioners in every parish in Cork diocese.