Tullamore woman moved by tragedy organises charity event

Tullamore business woman Dee Gallagher of Studio One hair salon was so moved by a recent tragedy that resulted in the death of a four-year-old boy that she’s arranged a fundraising family fun day for next month to support the cause.

Little Ciaran Treacy from Portarlington died on April 17 last following a two car crash near his hometown when returning from a visit to his grandparents.

Ciaran’s mother Gillian was severely injured in the crash and since attending her son’s funeral on a stretcher has been through multiple operations, while his older brother Sean (7) escaped the crash unharmed.

The family, including Gillian’s husband Ronan and two-year-old Caoimhe, are now working on Gillian returning to full health while at the same time preserving Ciaran’s memory. The local community has also sprung into action, launching a fundraising campaign called 'Bubbles for Ciaran’.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent Dee explained that the Treacy family reminds her a lot of her own.

“We are of a similar age, all self-employed and little Ciaran reminds me a lot of my son Sean,” she explained.

“But the thing that made me most want to get on board was the picture of Gillian, a mother in horrific pain both physically and emotionally, having to attend her baby’s funeral by ambulance and on a trolley.

'The scene of the little white coffin and the trolley side by side at the hearse made me cry so many times. It affected me more than any other tragedy before. I just couldn’t get the family out of my mind, and I realised I’d be better putting my energy into helping them rather than just crying for them.”

At first Dee considered a coffee morning, but after receiving offers of raffle vouchers from over 20 businesses when she mooted that idea on Facebook she decided to ramp her idea up.

Now plans are in place for a family fun day on August 3 at the Tullamore Dew Visitor Centre, with all proceeds going to support the Treacy family.

Tickets for the event are €5, and for that attendees will get a complimentary Tullamore Dew cocktail and entry to a raffle with over €1,000 in prizes up for grabs.

The event that begins at 3pm will also include music by Jig Jam and children’s entertainment.