The biblical parable of the miracle of the loaves and fishes must have dawned on the management and staff of the event hosts at The Forge early this morning.
Out before them, for the 5am start of the Darkness into Light walk, the crowd began to swell and swell to the extent that one participant put the gathering as ‘shoving up into the thousands territory – and they’re still coming she said.
“Look” she said as a group of more than a dozen strong turned in off Killarney Road onto the Back-of-the-Forge.
Parking Spaces Eaten Up
Meanwhile, every available car parking space in the vicinity was being eaten up as the vehicles stopped and emptied their passengers onto the wet street and children dashed and parents followed as they headed for the starting point.
They waited for the shrill blast of the specially appointed Grand Marshall, Gerdie Murphy’s whistle and it came clear and loud and as close as was humanly possible to the advertised off-time of 5am.
Final Tally Tomorrow
The aftermath went as smoothly as the beginning as the loaves and fishes and coffee manifested, helped by the fact that no money was being taken as the participants fed themselves on the house and the donation buckets from their own resources.
There won’t be a final donations tally until later today or even tomorrow, but, The Forge proprietor Tadhg McGillicuddy said that they were really impressed and pleased with the crowd which the event attracted and he estimated that it was at least three times the size of last year’s walk.
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