Earlier this morning, the Mater Foundation held their annual 'Dickie Dip' to support Men's Cancer Care at the Mater Public Hospital.
Men from all across the country joined together to wade into the cold Irish sea, wearing just a dickie bow, in order to raise vital funds to help fund the replacement of radiolology equipment.
One such man was Shane Daniel Byrne, a comedian who may be best known for his now viral comedy character, Shannon from Shannon's Hair, Beauty, Brows, Nails and Dog Grooming on the Lower Kimmage Road.
But with all the ways to raise money for charity, why did the Queer History Lessons presenter sign up for the chilly swim? Well, as it turns out, it was mostly down to guilt.
"There's a rugby player called Shane Byrne who is famous for having a big mullet, and has the same name as me, obviously, and I joked one day that he was doing this and that and was I a bad person for not doing the naked swim for charity. Then loads of people wrote back and said 'you should do it'."
With his namesake's good deeds hanging over him, and an eerily specific Instagram algorithm delivering an ad for the Dickie Dive into his lap, Shane decided it was time to live up to the Byrne name.
"It's so weird," he laughs. "You realise when you get there that you've never seen that many naked people at the one time in your life. You go 'oh, so this is the moment I see the most naked people at once. This is it, I'm about to live it'."
Taking place in Skerries Sailing Club, Shane says that the organisers gave participants as much privacy as possible with sections of the beach cordoned off and stewards keeping things running smoothly.
"You didn't even notice the cold, to be honest, it was too adrenaline filled," he laughs. "It was a quick dip. They were very strict about it not being a swim because they were trying to look after everybody and had lifeguards and everything else but, yeah, it was a quick dip."
"I'm usually a scaredy-cat about getting into the sea," he continues, "I like sea swimming but I'm usually tip-toeing until I'm up my neck, but this time it was like - with the adrenaline and it being so hilarious - I was just straight in."
Approximately 1 in 7 men in Ireland will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and the funds raised by this year's event will enable staff at the Mater Public Hospital to identify the cancer in the first instance as well as recurring cases earlier than ever.
Speaking on the charity, Byrne said that experience itself was thrilling but seeing other participants tributes online was exceptionally touching.
"Everybody has been connected to cancer in some way," he says. "There's not a person alive who doesn't have some experience with it, and there is some body with cancer in my life at the moment."
"I was doing it more for the craic," he adds. "I think sometimes it's fun that a tribute doesn't have to be solemn, it can be a bit mad too."
The Dickie Dip is an annual event conceived by a small local committee that wanted to raise awareness, and significant funding, around men's cancer care. You can find more info here.
