Ciara Mageean passway away at 6.30am on Sunday 1 November, aged 34, after a battle with cancer. Seven days earlier, she had celebrated her wedding with family and friends at Darver Castle in County Louth.
She was a European champion, a two-time Olympian and the woman who took the Irish records off Sonia O’Sullivan. Ask people in Irish sport about her this week and most of them start somewhere else.
Ciara Mageean, the person, behind the medals.
The night in Rome
On 9 June 2024, in the Stadio Olimpico, Ciara won the European 1500m title in 4:04.66. The summer before, she had finished fourth in the world in Budapest, 0.61 of a second off a medal. There had been a bronze in 2016, a silver in 2022 and years of near misses in between.
She got boxed in on the way round and won anyway. She became only the second Irish athlete after Sonia O’Sullivan to take an individual European title. Her mission, she told RTÉ afterwards, had been to hear Amhrán na bhFiann.
Then David Gillick put a microphone in front of her, and she gave Ireland a line it has not stopped repeating. “I didn’t grow up playing camogie to get boxed in.”
Funny, quick, competitive and completely herself. That was Ciara.
Eight weeks later, an Achilles injury ruled her out of the Paris Olympics on the eve of her heat. She had been European champion for 57 days.
She spoke about the lows as openly as the highs.
The next Sonia
From her teenage years, Ciara carried the tag of “the next Sonia”. In Brussels in September 2022 she took Sonia’s 1500m record, which had stood since 1995, when Ciara was three. Sonia was in the stadium to see it. She said afterwards that it was special for both of them.
In Monaco in July 2023, Ciara ran 4:14.58 and took the Irish mile record too. This week Sonia spoke to The Irish Times about their relationship.
Portaferry
Ciara grew up in Portaferry, County Down, and played camogie for the local club until under-16 level. Her coach at Portaferry GAC, Tom Murray, remembered her as “the best player on the pitch”.
Her funeral was held at St Patrick’s Church in Portaferry on Tuesday 3 November. Hundreds of mourners walked in the cortege, and players formed a guard of honour as her coffin was carried in.
Fr Martin Kelly, who has known her since she was eight, remembered the podium in Rome, with Ciara wrapped in a Tricolour and listening to the anthem. “We all had tears in our eyes, our hearts bursting with joy and pride,” he said.
Our thoughts are with her husband Tommy, her parents Catherine and Christopher, and everyone who loved her.
In July, Ciara was guest of honour at the Irish national championships, where Athletics Ireland invited young athletes from clubs across the country to take part in a Run with Ciara. Hundreds of children shared the track with her that day.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.
