ABOUT the boys
Sepp Tieber-Kessler and Eamonn Donnelly have been good friends for over 25 years. It wasn't long before they started playing Irish music together, eventually forming the band, Boxty. Besides having a shared interest in music, they and their families have shared a lot of good times together over the years.
Eamonn was born in Keady, Co. Armagh, but has lived in Austria since 1990. In the last year, he came up with the idea of 'The Long Walk Home' (leaving Hitzendorf in southeast Austria and walking home to Ireland) to help raise awareness and much needed funds for dementia research. The reason is, sadly, all too easy to explain. Several years ago, Eamonn's mum, Margaret passed away after suffering from a rare and extremely aggressive form of dementia. Frustrated and feeling helpless that nothing could be done to alleviate the symptoms let alone cure this cruel disease, it became apparent that much more needed to be done to understand and tackle it. 'The Long Walk Home' is a very small step along the way to doing just that, while also honouring the life of an amazing wife, mother, grandmother and friend.
Together with his friend Sepp, they hatched the idea of this expedition and have been planning and training for it over many months. They will be trekking, climbing and camping all the way to Keady covering a total distance estimated to be over 2300 km (1500 miles). As music continues to play such a central role in the boy's lives they also hope to play some impromptu gigs along the journey - as long as they can borrow a guitar from some friendly locals - given the strict weight restrictions in their backpacks. They set off from Hitzendorf (near Graz) on 18th June and are aiming to arrive in Keady at the beginning of September.
It promises to a be an eventful journey with many trials and tribulations. They hope you will be interested in following it though this blog or on Facebook/Twitter. If you feel inspired you may also like to donate to the very worthy cause, where all the money will go to support dementia research. If so you can do so via the links on this blog.
Sepp Tieber-Kessler und Eamonn Donnelly sind schon seit ueber 25 Jahren gute Freunde. Es dauerte nicht lange und sie begannen irische Musik zu machen und eine Band zu gruenden. Neben dem gemeinsamen Interesse und der Liebe zur Musik haben sie und ihre Familien in all den Jahren viel schoene Zeit miteinander verbracht.