Ann Dowley Spillane transformed her cancer diagnosis into a mountaineering triumph, summiting Kilimanjaro just months after treatment. Diagnosed with inoperable cervical cancer in 2010, Ann Dowley Spillane founded The Girls Club in Cork and proved that determination conquers impossible odds. This account documents her journey from struggling on Purple Mountain to standing atop Africa’s highest peak at 5,895 metres.
The Purple Mountain Challenge That Changed Everything
Ann Dowley Spillane travelled to Killarney, County Kerry, for a training weekend with the Dream Team in preparation for their Kilimanjaro fundraising expedition. The team of eleven hardy souls planned to raise funds and awareness for The Girls Club, a cancer support group and drop-in centre run by volunteers in Cork. Ann Dowley Spillane attended as part of the support crew, never intending to climb Kilimanjaro herself.
Purple Mountain rises from the Gap of Dunloe with steep slopes that challenge even experienced hikers. The mountain earns its name from the lavender hue of its rocky terrain. Ann Dowley Spillane started the ascent with the team but struggled against the gradient and her physical limitations.
Forced to turn back while her teammates pushed towards the summit, Ann Dowley Spillane faced a critical decision. Hobbling back down into the Gap of Dunloe, she refused to surrender to disappointment. Instead, she chose to walk the entire Gap of Dunloe, a scenic valley route stretching through the Black Valley.
The decision marked a turning point. Striding past the lakes and through the Black Valley, sweating under the Kerry sun, stubborn determination kicked in. She refused help from passing jarveys driving their horse-and-traps, walking right to the end of the valley and back. The Black Valley became her Purple Mountain, her Kilimanjaro, her personal Everest—and she completed it.
Living With Cancer: The Reality Behind the Fighting Spirit
Ann Dowley Spillane demonstrated that fighting spirit throughout her cancer journey. Anyone touched by cancer understands what life became after her 2010 diagnosis: chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and brachytherapy treatments dominated her existence. The tumour affected nerves in her leg, hip, and back, forcing her to walk with a stick and morphine patches for pain management.
The pain reached such intensity that Ann Dowley Spillane begged doctors to amputate her leg. They refused, and she persevered through the agony. Her perspective on the experience remains characteristically defiant: “I got cancer, but cancer never got me.”
Ann Dowley Spillane speaks openly about the power of the mind and admits to running away from fear by staying busy. Cancer strips away dignity and normalcy in devastating ways. “Cancer takes everything,” she explains. “It takes your hair, your boobs, your childbearing years, your career, your income, your means to make a living. It violates your body and your mind. It makes you live in fear and it’s not just you. When you are diagnosed with cancer, your whole family gets cancer, it violates the whole family.”
Founding The Girls Club: Creating Community Through Adversity
Ann Dowley Spillane established The Girls Club to offer support, shelter, and a place to exist for other women affected by cancer. She understood intimately the experience of cancer’s touch and wanted to create sanctuary for others facing similar battles. The Girls Club brings joy and laughter to Cork, though volunteering to help run it proves neither easy nor painless.
“You love people, you hold their hand while they suffer and often, you lose them,” Ann Dowley Spillane reflects. She speaks about former members as flying high on the bravest wings and believes they fly alongside the Dream Team on Kilimanjaro. The team carries the hopes, dreams, fears, and love of many people with them on their expedition.
The Girls Club operates as a drop-in centre where women affected by cancer find community and understanding. Volunteers staff the centre, creating a space where cancer patients and survivors connect without judgment. The organization became central to Ann Dowley Spillane’s purpose after diagnosis, channeling her fighting spirit into helping others navigate their cancer journeys.
The Unexpected News: From Fear to Freedom
After walking the Gap of Dunloe, Ann Dowley Spillane felt unwell and scheduled medical tests, fearing the cancer had returned or spread. The test results brought shocking news: she was cured with no trace of cancer remaining in her body.
Stunned, Ann Dowley Spillane struggled to absorb the information. Fear had become habitual, and her mind raced with uncertainty. Her thoughts soon turned towards the heavens and Kilimanjaro. In a few months, the Dream Team would make their expedition to Africa, and the fighter in Ann decided to launch another battle—joining them not as support crew but climbing all the way to the summit.
For mountaineers and non-climbers alike, the scale of what Ann Dowley Spillane proposed seemed impossible. Failing to summit Purple Mountain yet aspiring to climb Kilimanjaro just months later defies physics and reason. Ann Dowley Spillane had faced impossible odds before and refused to accept defeat.
Training Transformation: From Hospital Bed to Mountain Fitness
March, June, and July saw the Dream Team training in gyms and on Kerry hills. “I thought TRX was a dinosaur before I joined the gym,” Ann Dowley Spillane jokes about starting her six-day weekly training regime. The programme included spinning sessions and TRX suspension training, pushing her body beyond previous limits.
She transformed her diet completely, going gluten-free, swapping cakes for salad, discovering juicing, and losing 22 pounds in a remarkably short period. Ann Dowley Spillane walked everywhere, trained on the Galtee Mountains, and hiked Kerry hills at night with her dog for additional conditioning.
Walking with the team created initial stress. “I’m afraid of holding them up and slowing them down,” she admits, expressing every beginner’s dread when starting a new challenge. Ann Dowley Spillane frequently demands high standards from herself, talking about kicking herself and getting on with tasks regardless of difficulty.
Walking at height presented particular challenges. “With morphine patches holding you together, you’re so stoned you fear you could fall,” she comments with characteristic wry humour. Ann Dowley Spillane possesses a wicked sense of humour, and the ability to laugh at cancer appears knitted deeply into The Girls Club’s fibre—as much about fun as survival.
Conquering Kerry’s Peaks: Building Towards Kilimanjaro
A return trip to Pat Falvey’s Mountain Lodge in Killarney saw Ann Dowley Spillane finally reach Purple Mountain’s summit. The mountain that defeated her months earlier now stood conquered beneath her feet. Moving to Mangerton Mountain, she vomited the entire ascent but made it to the top, proving physical discomfort couldn’t stop her progress.
Then came Carrauntoohil, Ireland’s highest mountain at 1,038 metres. “Jesus,” says Ann, “my worst nightmare right there. I read about the Devil’s Ladder, I Googled the Devil’s Ladder, I talked about the Devil’s Ladder and I dreamed about the damned Devil’s Ladder.” Finally, the day arrived to face it.
Ann’s cousin guided her up Carrauntoohil. “I thought about my Girls and silently cried ‘guys I need your wings’. It was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. Each step was painful and the pace was fast. But we made progress, moving higher and higher, and I met lovely people along the way.”
The sun shone brightly across Kerry, creating an amazing day on Ireland’s highest peak. Finally, in the distance, she spotted the cross marking the summit. The sight of that cross carried multiple meanings for her. Reaching the top, Ann Dowley Spillane knelt and kissed the ground, saying many things to many people quietly in her mind. She rang her mum, her husband, and her son in Australia before descending the Devil’s Ladder. “Cancer down, Devil down, Kilimanjaro ahead.”
Facing the Ultimate Challenge: Kilimanjaro Expedition
“I don’t know,” Ann Dowley Spillane admits when asked about the challenge ahead. “I’ve had nightmares about it. I keep doubting myself, but I don’t do failing well. I’m not good at giving in. I’ve done chemo, done sickness, done agony. I don’t know if I’ll be able to say I’ve done Kili, don’t know what’s going to happen. But I’m going, and I’m fighting, and everyone with me has battled to be here too.”
Every Dream Team member carried their own cancer story. They had all been touched by cancer and made massive sacrifices to participate. Their families went on hold whilst they worked full-time, trained hard, and managed to fundraise thousands of pounds for The Girls Club.
The team planned to place a plaque at Kilimanjaro’s summit bearing the names of loved ones who had passed from cancer. “That will be the hardest moment,” Ann Dowley Spillane predicts. The emotional weight of representing lost friends and family members would prove as challenging as the physical climb to 5,895 metres.
The Journey’s True Victory: Perspective on Success
“We’ve already made it,” Ann Dowley Spillane declares before departure. “We’ve supported each other, formed new friendships, laughed, cried and raised thousands for the club. The journey to get here was as important as the journey ahead. In my eyes, the Dream Team are already winners, so let the next journey begin.”
The Dream Team successfully summited Kilimanjaro in 2014, making their dream a reality. The team included Michael Healy, Leone Levis, Noirin Doyle, Eilish O’Boyle, Laura Murray, Eimear O’Sullivan, Samantha Heaton, Grace Moloney, Karen Cronin, Denise Cullinane, Eimear O Grady, and Ann Dowley Spillane. They raised substantial funds for The Girls Club Cork cancer support service.
Ann Dowley Spillane proved that cancer survivors can achieve extraordinary physical feats through determination, proper training, and community support. Her journey from Purple Mountain to Kilimanjaro demonstrates how mental strength complements physical preparation when facing seemingly impossible challenges.
The Legacy of Ann Dowley Spillane’s Journey
Ann Dowley Spillane’s story continues inspiring cancer patients and survivors across Ireland. Her approach to adversity—refusing to let cancer define her limits—provides a roadmap for others facing similar diagnoses. The Girls Club Cork continues operating as a testament to her vision of community support for women affected by cancer.
Training for major expeditions requires physical preparation, but Ann Dowley Spillane’s experience shows mental resilience proves equally vital. Her transformation from cancer patient walking with a stick to Kilimanjaro summiteer occurred within months, demonstrating what determination and proper support achieve.
Pat Falvey Irish & Worldwide Adventures has guided thousands of climbers to summits worldwide, including many facing personal challenges similar to Ann’s journey. The Mountain Lodge in Beaufort, Killarney, provides a base for training on Kerry peaks before international expeditions.
Ann Dowley Spillane sadly passed away on Friday, 13th October 2017. Her legacy lives on through The Girls Club, the lives she touched, and the inspiration her story provides to anyone facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles. She proved that cancer might attack the body, but it cannot defeat the human spirit’s determination to climb higher.