Climbing Kilimanjaro

Jim Cummins was born in 1944 and grew up in a small rural community in county Kildare Ireland; he finished school at age 13 and immediately went to work as a farm labourer. He learned to drive trucks at age 17 and later immigrated to Australia where he worked as a miner and learned all about using explosives as part of the job. On returning to work in Ireland he resumed work as a truck driver but soon progressed to senior management and eventually started his own business as co-founder of Primo Oil Company which went on to become a big player in the oil distribution scene in Dublin employing up to 125 people at its height. Jim liked to be adventurous and loved water sports and at one time formed part of the crew in a Trans Atlantic yacht race. He became involved in fundraising for Barretstown the children’s charity and the Make a Wish foundation which is also a children’s charity and went on treks to Brazil, Vietnam, Lesotho and the Inca trail to Macchu Picchu in Peru. Jim and his wife pat also went on charity building projects in Africa building school rooms and an orphanage. In 2011 Jim undertook his greatest adventure to date when he went with his wife Pat to climb Mount Kilimanjaro the world’s highest freestanding mountain. This is the story of Jim’s journey from Kildare to Climbing Kilimanjaro.