Mayo granny (62) to take part in charity swim from Roonagh to Clare Island

A SIXTY-two-year-old Mayo grandmother who once swam from the notorious Alcatraz prison in California to San Francisco will take part in a 5.3km open sea swim to Clare Island this Saturday.

Ann Ivers, nee Gilmartin from Kiltimagh is one of a number of participants who is eagerly looking forward to participating in the charity swim to Clare Island from Roonagh Pier to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and Louisburgh Order of Malta.

The swim is scheduled to depart Roonagh Quay at 8.30am (weather permitting) on August 10 where the participants will make the 5.3km swim to Clare Island.

Ann is now stranger to open sea swimming and in 2022 she swam approximately two-miles from Alcatraz Island to the St Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. She went to San Francisco to visit her daughter and while there she swam from Alcatraz to the mainland after her children suggested the idea to mark her 60th birthday.

As well as being an avid sea swimmer, Ann is also a grandmother, a community nurse and a marathon runner. At 62 years young with five grandchildren and four children, Ann likes a challenge.

“I won’t be in any hurry,” she says, “but I will get there - at my own pace”.

Ann has been providing for her community as a Mayo Community Living Nurse for decades. There’s no doubt her positive energy helps all who she meets. She and her husband Eugene (known for his GAA connections) have been a part of the Kiltimagh community all their lives and continue to do so.

She was ‘born and reared’ in Kiltimagh but she has swam events in the USA and New Zealand, run the Dublin City and Cork City marathons and numerous other events. Now she looks forward to this charity swim to Clare Island while raising funds for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and Order of Malta Louisburgh.

All funds raised will go directly to the two charities mainly with some funds going to other individual charities also. The organisers are hoping that supporters will come out on the day to celebrate and contribute in any way.

Donations can be made through the iDonate page https://www.idonate.ie/event/charityswim24. People can show support by donating online and also coming out on the day to cheer the swimmers ashore in Clare Island and celebrate. People will congregate in the Centre on Clare Island after the swim.