Hundreds attend funeral of Olympian Ciara Mageean in County Down
The former European champion and two-time Olympic runner died on Sunday following a diagnosis of stage four bowel cancer.
Hundreds of people gathered in Portaferry, County Down, on Tuesday to pay their respects to Olympian Ciara Mageean. According to BBC News, the former European champion and two-time Olympic runner died on Sunday after being diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer.
The funeral included a requiem Mass at St Patrick's Church, which followed a cortege from Mageean's family home. Portaferry GAC and her former school, Assumption Grammar in Ballynahinch, provided a guard of honour for the cortege.
Among the attendees were Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill, fellow Olympian Rhys McClenaghan, and 1972 gold medallist Lady Mary Peters. Other mourners included Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Claire Hanna, GAA President Jarlath Burns, and former boxer Paddy Barnes.
In a tribute read at the service, Mageean was described as a truly remarkable, immensely talented and inspirational human being. Fr Martin Kelly, who knew Mageean since her childhood, spoke of her achievements and her love for her husband, Thomas Moran, whom she married less than three weeks before her death.
Mageean represented Ireland at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics and won the 1500m gold at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome. She also won a silver medal representing Northern Ireland at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.