A TikTok star from Co Tyrone has racked up 200,000 followers from showcasing his travels throughout Ireland.
Marius Monaghan from Fintona started his account in 2020, documenting his trips to several areas of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Some of his videos have been viewed more than 20 million times and his rise has even led to a job with Irish tourism board Failte Ireland.
But Marius says at heart his videos are all about adventure and exploring the great outdoors.
“I would best describe myself as an adventurer, an outdoors person who creates high octane content,” Marius told MyTyrone.
“It’s not just scenery or hidden gems, it’s also me getting involved and taking the viewer on the experience with me.
“I opened the account just about two years ago, during the first lockdown and kind of just used it as a bit of inspiration for myself and others for something to look forward to.
“Once things did open up I just continued to document what I was doing and the growth really came then.
“It kind of just snowballed then when people just started to get into that type of activity, and I think people are getting outdoors even more now.
“The whole outdoors scene in Ireland has really boomed in recent years and I don’t think it’s any secret that TikTok and Instagram have been a big part of that.”
Marius is also a seal rescue volunteer, and some of his most popular videos have shown him rescuing the animals throughout the country.
“I would document some of my seal rescues and put them on TikTok as well, they are quite funny and some of the comments I get on those can be quite heartwarming and emotional," he said.
“People just love to see an animal rescue story.
“One of the videos has been viewed by 20 odd million on my own TikTok, and then shared on different platforms so it is probably pushing 100 million views.
“The community on TikTok love animal rescue, so the seal videos tend to be really popular.”
The Co Tyrone adventurer said the increased popularity of the viral video app has helped to boost his and other traveller’s profiles.
“It’s not too production heavy, so it’s accessible for everyone,” he added.
“Anyone can create memories on it and share it, the possibility of growth on it is huge because someone with five followers could post a video and it could get millions of views in just a couple of days.
“It’s a crazy platform to be on at the minute and hopefully it continues to be a success for me.”
