Laois cycle group raises €46,000 for charities and local causes
Rathdowney Easy Riders donate €46,000 from annual cycle to charities and local causes, install bicycle sculpture in village square, and celebrate launch of 25th year
A Rathdowney charity cycle group has raised €46,000 for charities and local clubs in 2026, bringing the total sum raised over its existence to €647,840.
The group held its annual cheque presentation last Saturday, November 7 at the Brewery Bar, Rathdowney. The evening was also an opportunity to launch Easy Riders’ 25th year and unveil a new addition to the Rathdowney villagescape in celebration of Easy Riders and the many causes it has supported.
A blue bicycle sculpture created by local engineer and metal fabricator TJ O’Shea was erected in the square. Fr Martin Delaney blessed the bike at the unveiling and shared some words about the group.
This year, Easy Riders’ chief recipient was St Fergal’s College, which received €10,000 for its library rejuvenation. Rathdowney-Errill Juvenile GAA received €8,000, and Clogher House received €5,000. Clogher House is a community centre utilised by the local Men’s Shed and Youth Cafe among other groups. The donation from Easy Riders will go towards refurbishment of its windows and doors.
The remainder of the fund was distributed to myriad charities and local groups: Rathdowney Errill Ladies Football (€2,000), Rathdowney Meals on Wheels (€2,000), Merchant Quay (€2,000), Breast Cancer Ireland (€2,000), Brain Tumor Ireland (€2,000), Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust (€2,000), Rathdowney Playground (€1,000), Rathdowney Christmas Lights (€1,000), Rathdowney Tidy Towns (€1,000), Rathdowney St Patrick’s Day Parade (€1,000), Kilcotton GAA for the development of a community gym (€1,000), Errill Christmas Lights (€1,000), Scoil Bhride for its statue of Brigid (€1,000), Scoil Bhride for its Martina Grimes reflection garden (€1,000), Rathdowney Arts Group (€500), Old Cemetery committee (€500), New Cemetery Committee (€500), Rathdowney Scouts Worlds Scouts Jamboree (€500), Donaghmore Village (€500), and Roscrea Animal Rescue (€500).
Easy Riders was established in 2003 when its inaugural members embarked on a cycle from Rathdowney to Achill Island, Galway. The group have since raised thousands of euro for charities and local causes and travelled over 5,300 kilometres together.
“The Easy Riders began with a group of people in a pub talking about that they’d love to cycle to Achill,” said committee member Thomas Molan. “And then people got together and said: Look, why don’t we try and put a committee together and maybe raise a few funds for charity.”
Easy Riders’ beginnings can hardly be described as humble, however, as it raised €42,000 that first year for Laois/Tipperary Hospice.
Each year since, the Easy Riders committee has elected a cause or causes to raise funds for and determined a route for the annual cycle.
In 2026, a group of 35 cyclists set off from Rathdowney on the August bank holiday weekend. They cycled to Castlecomer, where they stayed the night, before continuing to Kilkenny. They then circled back homeward to Rathdowney for a night of celebrations after their 140-kilometre journey.
While both the distances travelled and the funds raised are by no means insignificant, Mr Molan stressed that the group is called “Easy” Riders for a reason, adding: “There’s nobody going to be beating any records or anything along those lines.”
“The serious element of it is coming together and raising funds and nominating charities and organisations,” Mr Molan said. “But I suppose the other side of it is: it’s great fun.”
“And we’re well able to celebrate our destination when we get there, we’re well able to celebrate when we get home,” he laughed.
Mr Molan is a more recent addition to the committee, and he expressed great admiration for Easy Riders’ founding members.
“It’s very important just to highlight what good-natured people that you’ve got there, that have been involved for the last 24 years,” he said. “The world would be a great place if you had people like that all surrounding you.”
Next year’s 25th anniversary cycle will see the Easy Riders head North from Rathdowney to Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim, celebrating a quarter-century of altruism and camaraderie.