Irish walker bares his sole and strolls to a Guinness World Record

Eamonn Keaveney set out on a 5,500km journey on March 4 with the goal of walking from Istanbul to Dingle in west Kerry.

Exactly six months later, he had officially walked 3,410 kilometers barefoot, beating the previous record of 3,409.75 kilometers, set by Polish walker Pawel Durakiewicz in 2024.

Mr Keaveney did the mammoth walk to raise money for youth mental health group Jigsaw and environmental group Friends of the Earth.

The Co. Mayo adventurer has described the moment he officially beat the record as "a funny feeling".

"I felt good, but in the back of my mind, I’m thinking I still have so far to go," he told Extra.ie. Mr Keaveney revealed that while he had initially said he would walk 5,500km, he had given himself some "wiggle room".

He went on to say, "It’ll end up being north of 6,000km I reckon, I’d rather overpromise than underdeliver."

 Currently taking a few days’ rest in Vienna, the rest of Mr Keaveney’s journey will see him cross Austria, Germany and France, where he will eventually board a ferry to Dover.

"I am allowed to use transport when crossing the ocean," he emphazised. "A lot of people online have claimed that’s cheating."

From Dover, he intends to walk to Wales, board a ferry to Rosslare, and then walk to Dingle. When asked what he will do when he reaches Dingle, Mr Keaveney said, "I’ll probably just walk back home to Claremorris."

The adventurer has had a difficult walk so far with his feet "cut so many times" that he now has multiple blood blisters. He was also bitten by a dog in Turkey and had to get four rabies shots in the early days of his trek.

He said he wanted to raise money for Jigsaw as it is "helping people before they reach a crisis point".

He also noted that he felt it was important to offer young people mental health services as "many of them may not have the means to seek help alone".

He doesn’t expect to reach Dingle until "early next year" but emphasized that he is documenting his entire trek on his Instagram page, which is also where supporters can donate.

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.