McDonaghs do Mayo proud in Ireland's Fittest Family

THE McDonagh family from north Mayo did Mayo proud in the final of Ireland's Fittest Family 2025.

While the crown was ultimately to elude them, making it into the final was a massive achievement, with keen interest back home on their progress.

Team McDonagh, from Belmullet, comprised 57-year-old Patrick, dad and grandad of the family, Matthew (25), Leah (21), and Daniel (18), Patrick's grandson (nephew of Matthew and Leah).

After eight weeks of gruelling challenges, inspirational moments and plenty of shouting from the coaches, the winners of Ireland's Fittest Family 2025 were revealed following a punishing finale on RTÉ One last night, with the McKenna family from Corraghbrack in Monaghan snatching the crown in an exhilarating stand off against three other families: the Carrs from Westmeath, the Linehans from Cork and the McDonaghs from Mayo.

The final showdown took place in a new location this year, the towering summit of the Tower and Treetop Walk of Avondale in Wicklow, which brought the competition to new heights.

The challenges tested the finalists' nerve, strength, endurance and teamwork after the coaches and families smashed their way through the all the events to date.

The final kicked off with all the families competing against each other in the terrifying Planking It – where the finalists had to hold a plank on a see-through platform suspended 20m above the forest floor. From there, they faced off in another brand-new event - Tower Power - racing with increasingly heavy weights to the summit of the 38m Avondale Tower.

The bottom two families, the Linehans from Cork and the McDonaghs from Mayo, went head-to-head in Buzz Kill - a shuttle-run contest from hell - with the McDonaghs leaving the competition.

The McKenna family went on to win, celebrating after with coach Andrew Trimble.

Viewers can catch up on all the thrilling moments from this season of Ireland's Fittest Family on the RTÉ Player.