Former Oban shinty player Alexander MacIntyre has raised more than £3,600 walking 491 miles for Cancer Research in memory of his dad.
Alexander’s dad Duncan was well-known in the town as a previous-serving councillor and a shinty stalwart before he passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2016.
Alexander, who now lives in Edinburgh and works as a specialist business manager for the Bank of Scotland, chose to walk the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James – a pilgrimage that dates back many centuries.
There are other routes toward the shrine of the apostle James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela which is in Galicia, North Western Spain, but Alexander’s chosen way is the oldest and most favoured one.
Known as the French Route, it starts at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Point on the French side of the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles on the Spanish side, then on to Santiago de Compostela.
Alexander completed his 491 miles in 31 days to coincide with what would have been his fathers’s 80th birthday on July 14, 2023.
He was joined by his mother Rosemary for the last few miles and with other members of the family they celebrated mass at the cathedral later.
As well as serving as a councillor, Duncan MacIntyre was a passionate member of the Oban Camanachd Club where he was initially a player with Lochside Rovers and then later became involved in the administration of the club holding every office – indeed, several at the same time.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Duncan guided the club through a difficult period in its history due to player shortages but went on to celebrate, as its president, the club’s centenary in 1989 and then it winning the Camanachd Cup in 1996.
In recognition of Duncan’s outstanding contribution to Oban Camanachd over many years, the club donated £300 to kick-start Alexander’s fundraising walk, which raised in total £3,632 for Cancer Research.
Alexander was a keen shinty player himself with Lochside Rovers and then for many years with Tayforth Camanachd, with whom he remains closely involved.
Caption: Alexander MacIntyre accepts a cheque for £300 for Cancer Research from Oban Camanachd President Patrick Steeman
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