Posted online: Aug 10th, 2010

An Inishowen duo defied all the odds at the weekend to swim one of the peninsula’s most treacherous stretches of water.

John Francis Doherty, from Clonmany, and Anne Devlin, from Tullagh, were among the first group of seven swimmers to  conquer the 3.03 mile stretch from Glashedy Island to Tullagh Strand.

John Francis organised the challenge, one of the highlights of the Clonmany Festival, to raise funds for the Irish Kidney Association -  his father, Patsy, having undergone a kidney plant several years ago.

Speaking to the Inish Times, the 28-year-old Dublin-based Garda who lives in Kildare, said he had always been confident of completing the swim despite some thinking it was not possible.

He said: “I was never afraid of not doing the swim  I always knew it could be done although a lot local people believed it couldn’t.”

He revealed conditions were “not perfect” for the challenge.

He said: “The waves must have been three metres high and it was a bit scary at one stage but there was no way I was turning back.”

He said the swim could not have been completed without the help of a number of people.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted, not just for myself, but for a number of people, including local fisherman Jimmy Kelly who gave us priceless help. It could not have been done without him, he made sure we swam in the right direction. Also the Kelly brothers, from Tullagh. who gave us additional cover.”

John Francis was also full of praise for members of the local community who dug deep in their pockets to raise funds far in excess what had been expected.

He said: “We got great support from the local community and the response was phenomenal. Not all the money has been counted yet but we are going to clear 10,000 euro which is far more than expected as the initial target was 5,000 euro.”

He added: “I am so proud of the people of this town the way they supported it. We are also grateful to the Clonmany Agricultural and Sheep Dog Trials who allowed us to collect at the gate on the day of the show.”

Among the group who took part in the swim were Sligo couple John and Josephine Ivers. In January this year, Josephine donated a kidney to her husband, only the fourth time a “live” transplant has taken place in Ireland and the first time such a procedure was carried out before dialysis.