logo
‘An inspiration' – Sister's touching eulogy for young nurse who died suddenly

‘An inspiration' – Sister's touching eulogy for young nurse who died suddenly

Sunday World11-05-2025
Sister's emotional eulogy remembers kind-hearted Louth woman who was loved by patients, teammates and friends, as over €143k raised to bring her home
A heartbroken sister of Maire Claire Rogers, the Louth nurse who died suddenly while on holiday in Australia, told mourners at her funeral to celebrate the wonderful 24 years she had on this earth.
Brave Grace Rogers said her beloved sibling had a smile that could light up any room and was inspirational to everyone around her.
Hundreds of people attended the requiem Mass amid beautiful sunshine in Togher Church on Saturday.
Grace recalled how Maire Claire had spent the last two weeks of her life living life to the full. She was with her boyfriend Paraic, who she adored, visiting her two favourite people in the whole world, her sister Heather and best friend Roisin, both of whom had been living in Sydney.
Grace said: "Marie Claire had a smile that could light up any room, she had an infectious energy that inspired everyone around her, she wore her heart on her sleeve and it was open to everyone.
"This was evident in the love she shared with the love of her life Paraic. Paraic entered our lives two years ago and the impact he made on Maire Claire and our family can't be overstated.
"Every time he walked into our kitchen Maire Claire's eyes lit up. She loved nothing more than walking the beach with him."
Grace said her family got great comfort from knowing their daughter and sister spent the last two weeks of her life with the people she loved most in this world - her favourite people and best friends Heather and Roisin.
She said: "What an amazing two weeks they had, from a hot air balloon, to a sky dive to snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, she experienced more things in those two weeks with her best friends than most people experience in a lifetime."
Marie Claire was a keen Gaelic footballer.
Maire Claire works as a nurse at St Joseph's Hospital, Ardee and Grace said her smile translated so well into her nursing career as she was also caring by nature.
She added: "Over the past two weeks it has been so comforting to hear how much she was adored by colleagues and patients.
"Football also played a massive part in her life and the Finbarr ladies were like a family to her.
"A messer in training but once she took to the field she gave 110pc every time and was instrumental in all the great successes the club has shared."
Members of the club lined up to honour her as her cortege made its way both in and out of Togher Church.
The Parish Priest Fr Paddy Rushe told mourners that there were "no words that can carry the weight of the moment."
Marie Claire Rogers
News in 90 seconds - 11th May 2025
He said: "We gather not only in mourning but also in shock, disbelief, it still feels impossible to accept that Marie Claire, so young, so full of life, so loved, is no longer with us.
"Her absence leaves a silence that will echo loudly, not just in her family but in every place where her smile once lit up the room. Her voice lifted spirits and her presence brought warmth and joy."
She is survived by her father Andrew, mother Mary, sisters Grace, Heather, and Frances and partner Paraic.
A Go Fund page to help the County Louth family bring Maire Claire home from Australia and pay for their expenses, has raised over €143,000.
Over 3,500 people contributed from all over Ireland and across the globe.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Funeral of elderly Cork couple found dead at their home hears they were ‘inseparable'
Funeral of elderly Cork couple found dead at their home hears they were ‘inseparable'

Irish Independent

time04-07-2025

  • Irish Independent

Funeral of elderly Cork couple found dead at their home hears they were ‘inseparable'

Michael (Noel) O'Sullivan and Anne (Née Ryng) were remembered as people who were deeply grounded in their religion and had a love of all things Irish. The Mass, which took place in the Sacred Heart Church in the village, situated just east of the city boundary, saw friends, family, and neighbours paying their respects to the well-respected couple, with mourners offering their condolences to the family ahead of the ceremony. The couple's coffins lay side by side on the altar, accompanied by a picture of the pair, who have been remembered fondly since their death on Monday. Offerings brought to the altar at the funeral Mass included a crucifix to represent the couple's 'deep Catholic faith', and a photograph of Glounthane village to represent their love of their home place. 'A History of Ireland' by Robert Key was also offered, as a symbol of the couple's love of Irish history, politics, and Gaelic. Ahead of the All-Ireland semi-final tomorrow between Cork and Dublin, the church heard that the couple loved Gaelic Games 'but there was only one game for them, and that was hurling,' as a Cork jersey was brought up. A radio was also presented as the Mass was told 'they loved nothing more than listening to matches, which prompted much debate and discussion.' A reading from the first letter of St John - which focuses on the need for love and God's love for his people - was read out, while hymns were also sung during the mass, which was well attended. 'Ann so often had a phrase she used to repeat, 'thank God we don't know what the future brings', said Fr Aidan Vaughan, 'but God knows, and God is good. 'She was so prepared for the will of God, whatever form it would take, because of her faith in almighty God. 'I notice there's no number on that jersey. I know that it meant so much to them, they were so invested in the traditions and games of Ireland. 'They were inseparable. They were united in life, and they were united in death.' The Mass also remembered the other deceased members of the O'Sullivan and Ryng families and heard about Ann's late brother Eolan, who spent his life as a Capuchin monk, before returning to Cork to be cared for by his sister before his death. 'Ann and Michael are still part of that communion of saints,' said Fr Vaughan, who concluded by saying: 'Thank God we don't know what's coming in the future, but God knows, and God loves us.' "To see two coffins laid out on the altar is a sight we don't see too often in this parish,' said Parish priest Fr Damien O'Mahony, with the former Bishop of Cork and Ross, John Buckley, also in attendance. 'On a personal note, I recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of my ordination. I was doing a tally of the cards, and I came across this card. You might recognise the writing,' said the priest to the congregation. "'Fr Damien, wishing you many more years of faithful service'. When I saw that, I got a lump in my throat, even reading it now. 'We've lost two people of faith, two people who have given so much to their families and the parish faith community as well. 'It was a sad call I got the other day. Sometimes when I get called, I don't know what's ahead of me, but they're together, and that's a nice image of them, together in life, and after life. Fr O'Mahony thanked the families of the deceased for their support and help since the death of the pair, before finishing by saying: 'most of all, we thank Michael and Anne, for being Michael and Anne,' to a standing ovation. Bishop Buckley concluded the Mass and offered his own memories of the couple. Foul play has been ruled out in relation to the deaths of the couple, whose bodies were found at the foot of their stairs at around 5pm on Monday by a relative. They were formally pronounced dead by a local GP. Michael and Anne O'Sullivan were laid to rest together at St Joseph's Cemetery in Little Island.

Over 175,000 historical records lost during 1922 Four Courts explosion recovered and put online
Over 175,000 historical records lost during 1922 Four Courts explosion recovered and put online

The Journal

time30-06-2025

  • The Journal

Over 175,000 historical records lost during 1922 Four Courts explosion recovered and put online

OVER 175,000 historical records which were lost in the 1922 explosion and fire which destroyed the Public Records Office in the Four Courts have been recovered and made available online. The records have been made freely available from today to mark the 103 rd anniversary of the Public Record Office explosion , which was located in the Four Courts. The records are available on the website of the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland and work to replace and digitise the more than 175,000 historical records involved more than 75 partner archives and libraries across Ireland and the word. The dome of the Four Courts on fire Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Dr Ciarán Wallace, co-director of the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland, remarked that the team has found records in archives and libraries around Ireland, both north and south, and also around Britain and the world. Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Wallace said: 'Wherever Irish people went, records seem to go. 'And English administrators who'd worked here might go back to England with the records that they had accumulated in their time here as senior officers in Ireland.' Wallace explained that the work involves examining the catalogues of its 75 partners and once the team recognises a name in the collections, they ask to see the papers of those donors. 'Suddenly, up comes records that are copies made before 1922, in the days before photocopiers and scanners, when copies are made longhand. 'So these are centuries of transcriptions that have been scattered all around the globe and on we're able to bring them back into one central location.' The records also includes 60,000 names from 19th century censuses, which were previously unknown or unavailable. When asked how the census material was fashioned together, Wallace praised the work of his colleague Dr Brian Gurrin. 'Before 1922, the census exists in the Public Record Office,' explained Wallace. Advertisement 'You could hire a genealogist to go into the archive and trace up your family history by hand. 'You then go off with your family history under your arm but when the genealogist retires or dies, their notes get left into the archive. 'It's finding those notes, sometimes scrawled and scribbled, taken from the census that was then burnt in 1922.' And when asked to pick out something from the more than 175,000 historical documents that fascinated him, Wallace pointed to a document in the medieval accounts from around 1284, of records of supplies going to build a king's castle in Roscommon. He also pointed to an Irish language letter from Co Donegal penned in around 1661. 'On the road between Donegal town and Barnesmore Gap in June 1661,' said Wallace, 'the local English authorities seized a letter which was written in Gaelic script. They couldn't interpret the letter or get anybody in the locality to interpret it. 'So they thought this was highly suspicious and they sent it down to Dublin for investigation and it then gets sent over to London.' When it was translated, it turned out to be a letter by the Franciscan Order. Wallace explained: 'Oliver Cromwell is dead, the new King has come in, and Franciscans are thinking, 'maybe we can get better dispensation under the new monarch coming in'. 'Of course, the English can't read this letter and they think it's something highly suspicious. 'It ends up on an intelligence file in London, where it has sat for over 400 years and is available online our website.' Meanwhile, the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland has over 350,000 historical records on its website, from medieval rolls to the pre-Famine census. 'There are portals, with one for medieval research, the 1798 Rebellion and a population portal,' said Wallace, who said that within these portals people will be able to easily search for the particular area of interest they have. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal

‘A warped idea of sex and intimacy' – Sex therapist says children as young as 10 exposed to pornography
‘A warped idea of sex and intimacy' – Sex therapist says children as young as 10 exposed to pornography

Irish Independent

time25-06-2025

  • Irish Independent

‘A warped idea of sex and intimacy' – Sex therapist says children as young as 10 exposed to pornography

The author and sex educator works in schools across counties Cork, Kerry and Limerick, educating young people about sex and intimacy. But she says Irish children today literally grow up seeing porn because of the widespread availability of technology, and it's giving them a 'warped' view of what real sex looks like. 'There's ways of bypassing safeguards on phones and even if kids don't have phones, their friends have phones,' she says. 'There's a lot of explicit stuff on the most widely used social media platforms; ones we all use every day. 'There's much less shame around sex nowadays for young people and they've much more information. 'But on the other side then they've grown up seeing porn from a really young age, a lot of them and, they've kind of quite a warped idea sometimes of sex and intimacy. 'Pornography is not the reality of course. So, there's less shame around sex but if they're seeing porn so young that it can be harder in a way.' Grace – who was a guest on the latest episode of the Under the Grill podcast – adds: 'I always say to parents that it's not about panicking either because there can be this like hysteria over phones. 'Technology is always going to be part of our lives, from now on anyway. 'It's more about having the conversations from a young age, bit by bit, so that they do feel they can come to you. And if they do see something, at least they'll know that it isn't realistic. ADVERTISEMENT 'I run a sex education programme for schools in Kerry and we're expanding into Cork and Limerick and so on and our approach is very sex positive, but it's age appropriate. 'So, I tell parents to start young. We're not talking about sex when they're young, but you talk about bodies, consent, boundaries, all that stuff. That's a huge part. 'When I was in school, we were told, so I'm 33, but when I was in school, we were literally told to 'abstain'. That was the word that was used. 'Like we had a whole talk basically, which was just all about periods. That was it. And then at the end of the class a little bit of reproduction, which isn't sex education. 'Then we got to the slide about sexual intercourse, and she said 'it's best to just abstain' and went onto the next slide. 'You are failing kids if that's all you're giving them. I would say just starting from when they're very young about what your body does, what the different parts are called, is perfect. That's not sexual, it's a good start. 'One of aspects we teach in schools is 'What does a 'yes' feel like in your body? What does a 'no 'feel like? 'Then once they get a bit older, then kind of layering that, okay, start talking about contraception a bit. Start talking about, social media, what they're seeing online and healthy and unhealthy relationships.' Grace Alice was a guest on Under the Grill, a podcast where Ireland's best loved personalities choose a dish from their childhood and Kevin Dundon cooks it up in his kitchen, alongside Maître d', Caoimhe Young. She told Under the Grill that while food and sex are linked because they are both sensual, she's not a believer in aphrodisiacs. 'There's not that much evidence to support aphrodisiacs. If you have a low libido, oysters are not going to help,' she said. 'Food and sex are both sources of pleasures though, I was thinking of those Marks & Spencer ads with food, they're nearly erotic. 'Food appeals to your senses, a few of your senses. I work with a lot of women who would struggle to enjoy sex, like relax and ask for what they want and advocate for their own pleasure. 'I ask people 'how would you experience pleasure in everyday life?' Not even sexual pleasure and often they'll be like blank. 'I'd tell them to start working on mindfulness skills, even your cup of coffee in the morning, spending one extra minute, really inhaling it, drinking it a bit slower. 'I tell them to try just slowing down a bit again, see how does that feel in your body? 'Often, we're just like rushing and racing and we have such modern, busy lives and there's no time given to just being in the moment and that feeds into people's sex lives then. 'So, give yourself the time to have the cup of coffee. Give yourself the time to have sex.' Under the Grill is available on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store