AN avid GAA family from West Cork appeared in the first episode of the new series of Ireland’s Fittest Family on RTE at the weekend.

The Walshes are taking part in the show which has seen a shake-up to the format, new star coaches and new challenges in new locations.

The three Walsh sons play on the same GAA team in Barryroe, in both hurling and football, and boast a haul of medals between them.

Michael (21), and Aidan (20), both mechanical engineering students in MTU, as well as Alphie (18), are all regular gym goers and even schedule a workout on Christmas Day.

Mum Amy (49) is also a qualified kayak instructor and runs a cancer rehabilitation group, Women Who Launch, which merges the physio aspect of breast cancer rehab with fun sporting events.

Eldest son Michael recently won a ‘Seiko Just in Time’ award from Water Safety Ireland for saving a woman from drowning.

The Walshs family are coached by Dublin GAA legend Michael Darragh McAuley and will face off against Anna Geary’s McClements family from Co Down, and the Carr family from Westmeath.

Champion swimmer Ellen Keane has joined this year’s coaching panel along with rugby legend Andrew Trimble, meaning the bid for glory coaching the fittest Irish family will now be a six-way battle.

Viewers will also see the families put through their paces and pushed to the edge both physically and mentally in an array of brand new challenges set by members of the Irish Defence Forces.

One gruelling challenge, Box to the Top, sees competitors start off in the ice-cold sea and embark on a head to head race along an army training ground, carrying kit bags and sandbags, before attempting to pull a 7.5tonne decommissioned army truck.