‘She became Ireland’s daughter’: Thomas Moran pays tribute to late wife Ciara Mageean

THE HUSBAND OF the late Ciara Mageean has paid a moving tribute to her, remarking that she “became, in a way, Ireland’s daughter”.

The Olympian and former European 1,500-metre champion, who had bowel cancer, died on 1 November aged 34.

Ciara married her long-term partner Thomas Moran just last month.

The couple had a ceremony at Belfast City Hall, before hosting a larger celebration at Darver Castle in Co Louth.

Ciara’s funeral Mass heard that she was “determined to give everybody a day to remember” as her wedding celebration, and that she “retired to a hospice bed” shortly afterwards.

In a post today on Instagram, Thomas remarked that when he met Ciara 12 years ago, he “knew immediately that she was special”.

“Kind, caring, generous, infectious and beautiful beyond words,” he added.

Thomas said that he “became entirely devoted” to Ciara and that “her joy became my joy, her fears my fears, and her dreams my dreams”.

He added that his “purpose in life shifted to helping make those dreams come true” and that “we chased those dreams wholeheartedly”.

“We travelled and raced and won and lost, lived a life with all its flaws, but we did it together.”

In paying tribute to Ciara, Thomas said that “rather than a message filled with sorrow or sadness, I want this to be one of pride”.

He said he was “proud of every second I got to spend alongside Ciara in this world” and that he was “proud to have held her hand through the worst of her cancer treatment”.

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“Proud to have seen the tear in her eye as she walked down the aisle on her dream wedding day,” he added.

“And proud to have lain by her side in her final moments of life, there with her family until the very end.”

Thomas remarked that “Ciara meant so much to so many people”.

“She became, in a way, Ireland’s daughter. Immensely proud, immensely loyal and immensely fierce, she was the epitome of the Irish warrior spirit.”

He recalled gifting her a necklace before the Rio Olympics in 2016 with the word “Invictus” inscribed on it, taken from the famous poem by William Ernest Henley.

“I wanted it to serve as a symbol of strength and resilience,” said Thomas, “but in an almost prophetic way, she went on to embody those qualities in ways I could never have imagined.”

He added: “I will miss Ciara forever. The miles we would have run, the homes we would have made, the children we would have had, and the long future we had planned together.

“But she will forever be in my heart, that flame of hope and inspiration, reminding us to fight on, no matter how fierce the battle, just as she did.”

Meanwhile, Thomas said that Ciara would often stand at the top of Windmill Hill, behind her home in Portaferry, and “tell me how it was her favourite place in the whole world”.

Her funeral Mass last week heard that Ciara wanted to be buried in her native Portaferry in Co Down, something Thomas was “very happy to go along with”.

“I stood up there numerous times over the days of her funeral, taking it in,” said Thomas.

“The weather was clearer than I had ever seen, the sky bluer, the grass greener, the trees all the colours of autumn.

You could see further than ever before, tens of miles in every direction, from the top of Strangford Lough, to the Mournes in the south, to the Isle of Man across the Irish Sea, all with perfect clarity.

“I’ve never seen it quite so beautiful. I don’t normally believe in superstition, but someone was showing off.

“I knew in those moments that Ciara is in the real heaven now, because she is back home in Portaferry.”