West of Ireland family to star in new series

Ireland’s Fittest Family is back with a brand-new series, and this year, everything has been turned up a notch! With an exciting new location for the heats, this series promises to be the most competitive and entertaining one yet. The Tierney family from Galway will be vying for honours in this year's series.

Returning for Series 14 are coaches Anna Geary, Donncha O’Callaghan, Davy Fitzgerald, Ellen Keane, Michael Darragh MacAuley and reigning champion Andrew Trimble.

This year’s competition features epic locations across the country: The heats will unfold in the breathtaking setting of Haulbowline Naval Base in Co Cork putting families through elite-level trials; The quarterfinals will be held in the familiar but terrifying bogs of Hell and Back in Co Wicklow; the semi-finals will take place in the industrial-meets-historic backdrop of Drogheda Port, where strength, teamwork and endurance will be tested like never before; the grand final will return to the majestic setting of Avondale House and its breathtaking Treetop Walk and Viewing Tower, promising a spectacular conclusion to the season.

Series host Laura Fox returns to oversee the chaos, camaraderie and competition as families from all over Ireland battle it out for the coveted title of Ireland’s Fittest Family and the €15,000 prize.

The heats will unfold over three weeks in the historic Haulbowline Naval Base. In each episode, two coaches will go head-to-head, leading two families each.

This Sunday it’s the turn of Camogie legend Anna Geary and last year’s champion, former Ireland and Ulster rugby star Andrew Trimble.

Anna has the McCourt family from Cork and the Tierney family from Galway while Andrew has the Ó Cathasaigh family from Dublin, and the McGilligan family from Derry.

All four families will battle it out for one of the three places up for grabs in the next round of the competition at Hell and Back.

This year, the events are demonstrated by members of the Irish Navy and the families must each take on a new twist – a challenge called, Raft Rage. Starting in the cold naval basin, this is a head-to-head race finishing with a rope climb from the sea onto an enormous Naval Patrol Ship.

The four families will then have their stamina tested by another new challenge Buoyzone. The four family members must transport lifebuoys from one side of the basin to the other using a paddle board.

With the scores of the first two events are combined, the two highest-scoring families go through to the next round, and the two families at the bottom must face off in the Navy Eliminator. Here, there’s a terrifying jump from a Navy ship into the water before the family must carry a Navy RHIB and climb enormous pneumatic fenders - all finishing with the infamous Ireland’s Fittest Family walls and ramps.

Ireland’s Fittest Family returns on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Sunday, November 1, at 6.30 p.m.