Ciara Mageean's coffin was carried to her funeral on Tuesday by her husband, Tommy Moran, less than three weeks after the couple married. The two-time Olympian died on Sunday at the age of 34, having been diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer last summer.
Wedding and final days
Mageean, who won European 1500 metres gold in 2024, married Moran last month. The couple held a ceremony at Belfast City Hall before a larger celebration at Darver Castle in Co Louth, just a week before her death.
At the funeral, mourners heard of her determination to give guests an unforgettable day. Fr Martin Kelly, who delivered the homily and had known Mageean since she was eight, spoke of her wedding: "There were two events for her wedding, and she looked radiant at both of them, at the centre of each event, and I saw her dancing and singing, so full of joy and so happy to be able to celebrate her big day with Tommy. She was determined to give everybody a day to remember."
Fr Kelly added: "After the second celebration, she retired to her hospice bed, and that was it; she sank lower and lower, but she held out until last Sunday, just passed, the Feast of All Saints. What an appropriate day. She was surrounded by her family as she passed on peacefully."
Athletic career remembered
Mageean represented Ireland at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games. In 2024, she became only the second athlete after Sonia O'Sullivan to secure an individual European title for Ireland. She had previously won a silver and two bronzes.
Fr Kelly recalled two standout moments. The first was her return to Portaferry after winning a world silver medal at the World Under-18s Meeting in Canada. The second was her European Championships final in Rome in 2024, where she came from third place on the home straight to win gold.
He recounted her words: "You're not going to box in a Portaferry camogie player that easily'. So she waited, and she waited until an opening came, and she cut through like a knife through butter, hitting the line with her arms in the air, getting gold and becoming European champion."
Final moments and tributes
Fr Kelly also described a visit to Mageean in her hospice room weeks before her death, when she proposed a walk. He said: "I said 'sure', thinking that it would be easy, because of her condition, I would be able, even at my age of 85, to match her stride for stride, but for Ciara a walk was much more than a dander."
He recalled her linking his arm on the way back, calling it "one of my happiest moments and memories."
Among those attending the funeral were Stormont First Minister Michelle O'Neill, SDLP leader Claire Hanna, GAA president Jarlath Burns, and Olympic gold-medal gymnast Rhys McClenaghan. Mageean is survived by her parents, Christopher and Catherine, sisters Máire and Nuala, and brother Brendan.
