A U-turn in life by a man who hit rock-bottom led to him setting up a group to reach out to men around Skibbereen, Co. Cork. ‘Be Undeniable’ isn’t about motivating men. It’s about normalising men spending time together, being honest, supporting each other, and lifting each other up and founder Andrew Desmond would like to see it replicated in other parts of the country.
Skibbereen native Andrew Desmond made an incredible comeback after stumbling in life and now he leads a local movement based on the idea of getting men moving. ‘Be Undeniable’ is about one simple idea: men need other men.
“Sometimes, the best way to fix a man’s head is to get him sweating first,” he says. “There was a time when men were tired for the right reasons. You worked. You moved. You sweated. You met other men without planning it weeks in advance. Life was hard but it made sense.”
These days, a lot of men are wrecked without ever having done anything physical.
“They are too busy. Too stressed. Always rushing. Sitting more. Sleeping worse. Carrying a bit extra weight and telling themselves it’s just how life is now. I know, because I lived that life myself,” he says.
“I’m a local man, and years ago my life went badly off track. Addiction and gambling took hold. Confidence disappeared. Purpose went with it. I wasn’t present, not for myself or anyone else.
“What brought me back wasn’t talk. It was doing hard things again. Getting up early. Moving my body. Training. Sweating. Showing up when it would’ve been easier not to.
“Physical fitness gave me my confidence back. Not overnight but day by day. As my body got stronger, so did my head. I stopped drifting. I started standing up straight again.
“Over time, that discipline led me into competitive fitness, and eventually I found myself fitter at 50 than I had ever been before, even winning my age category at national level. I don’t say that to boast. I say it because it proves something important: Men don’t fall apart because they’re weak. They fall apart because they stop doing the things that keep them strong,” he says.
Around the same time as that Andrew was changing his life around, he noticed something else:
“Men were lonely, not in a dramatic way, but in a quiet, dangerous way. Too busy to meet. Too tired to play. Too proud to say they missed having other men around.”
So, with all this in mind he started a small group in Skibbereen.
What ‘Be Undeniable’ do:
- A weekly men’s circle focused on real conversation and connection.
- Three early morning workouts each week.
- A run club and breakfast club every Saturday.
- Hikes every second Sunday, with larger mountain hikes planned quarterly.
- Weekly sea dip and sauna sessions.
- An online community where men stay connected between events.
• A drop of rain does not stop the ‘Be Undeniable’ group from going for a run.
“We have early morning workouts. We go for walks. Coffee after. Men talking while moving, not sitting across from each other analysing life.
“What happened surprised me. Farmers. Tradesmen. Fathers. Business owners. Men who looked like they had it together but who admitted they’d let themselves go, stopped playing, stopped pushing themselves.
“We weren’t there for a chat. We were there to raise the bar. That’s what the men’s circle became: not a support group, but a place of standards. A place where men move their bodies, challenge themselves, and hold each other to account while still having the craic.
“Some weeks are tough. Some weeks are full of laughter. But every week, men leave better than they arrived.
“Alongside that, an online community has grown – not as a place to complain, but as a base for action. Men organising meet-ups, setting challenges, encouraging each other to follow through.”
Andrew concludes, “This isn’t about going back to the past or blaming modern life. It’s about remembering something we’ve lost. Men were never meant to sit still all day. They were meant to move, to build, to work hard, to rest well, and to have other men around them.”
The Skibbereen group provides proof that when men are given structure, challenge, and connection, they don’t shy away.
So onwards and upwards for ‘Be Undeniable’. It’s making a remarkable difference to many men’s lives, of all ages, in West Cork and they have plans to go nationwide.
Andrew welcomes queries on how to set up a ‘Be Undeniable’ group in your area and how to inform others with a genuine interest in forming one for men of all ages, run by men, in your community.
M: 087-955 3955.
You can get a good idea of the group’s activities on Andrew’s Facebook page: facebook.com/andrew.desmond.7
