Chelmsford-based cyclist Aidan Spence is cycling more than 2,200 miles around Ireland to raise funds for Irish community organisations in Essex and celebrate the historic links between Ireland and Essex.
The challenge, titled Aidan Cycles for Cedd, saw Aidan set off from Rosslare on Friday 26 June and travelling the length and breadth of Ireland over the course of the summer.
The fundraiser aimed to raise £2,200, £1 for every mile cycled, with proceeds supporting St Cedd’s GAA, St Cedd’s Céilí Band, Cúpla Focal na nGael Chelmsford and the wider work of Chelmsford Irish. Aidan has surpassed this goal but donations continue to come in.
Aidan told The Irish World: “I’ve been preparing for this for quite a while.
“It’s not my first charity cycle, I usually cycle out in south east Asia.
“Last year I did a trip around Cambodia, Laos, Thailand for an orphanage out there.
“I’ve been cycling for many, many years.
“I thought this time, ‘Let’s get a little closer to home’.
“I left Ireland when I was 20 years old.
“I moved from Belfast to nurse over here.
“Since then my only real visits getting to see Ireland has been going over with GAA tours.”
Aidan was vice chairman of Thomas McCurtains minor club for a number of yeas and was also involved with London minors.
“The main focus will be to promote our fledgling GAA club St Cedd’s which is for me personally it’s wonderful.”
Aidan is also passionate that the community is inclusive.
“I think as an emigrant community, we have got so much to offer other emigrant communities assimilating into London.
“It’s great for us to be able to spread what we’ve got and what we’ve learned, our experiences.”
The ride takes its name from St Cedd, Essex’s Irish-speaking patron saint. In 654 AD, Cedd founded a monastery at Bradwell-on-Sea on the Essex coast. Educated in the Irish monastic tradition associated with Colmcille and Iona, he spoke Irish and helped forge lasting links between Ireland and Essex.
Along the way, Aidan will visit Gaeltacht communities, GAA clubs, traditional music sessions, heritage sites and places of cultural significance. He hopes to meet the people who keep Ireland’s culture and traditions alive today, hear their stories and share them with the community he is riding for back in Essex.
“I would like to meet and possibly interview as many quirky people as I can along the way.”
These include a 92-year- old Irish dancer in Tramore.
“I’m hoping along the way other people are going to add to this, are going to throw things along the way and give me the opportunity to talk to interesting, unusual characters and widen the story and the narrative as we go along.
“I’m going into the unknown here.”
Aidan added: “This journey is about more than cycling. It’s an opportunity to explore Ireland, celebrate our shared heritage and highlight the connections between Ireland and Essex that stretch back more than 1,300 years. I’m looking forward to meeting people across the island, hearing their stories and sharing the experience with the community back home. If I can also help support Irish culture, language, music and sport in Essex along the way, then all the better.”
Funds raised will support Irish cultural, sporting and language activities across Chelmsford and mid-Essex.
Established in 2025, Chelmsford Irish is a volunteer-led organisation dedicated to celebrating and promoting Irish culture, heritage and community life across Chelmsford and mid-Essex. Its activities include traditional music sessions, Irish language events, cultural celebrations, sporting activities and community gatherings throughout the year.
The challenge will be documented throughout the summer on social media, where supporters will be able to follow Aidan’s progress and learn more about the places, people and traditions he encounters along the way.
Aidan appeals for support along the way: “I’m going around with a tent and I’ll just stick it up where I’ll stick it up.
“Anybody who has got a back garden- or a filed or any ideas like that- that’s on my route and is happy for me to bang the tent in it or a field, I’ll take them up on the offer.”
To support the fundraiser, click here.
