The late Stella Horan.

A night of music and fun to remember Stella

A night of music and fun to remember a much-loved mother-of-four who passed away just three months after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease is set to take place in her favourite local hostelry, Ned's of Ballinagar, on Easter Sunday night, April 21 next.

50-year-old Stella Horan, who lived with her husband, Michael, and four children in Ballycue, Geashill and was a very popular member of the teaching staff in Killina Secondary School, Rahan, when sh received the devastating motor neurone diagnosis in September 2017, and despite her unfaltering determination to beat the disease, it progressed very quickly and she passed away just three months later.
During her illness, Stella wanted to do something to raise money for other motor neurone sufferers and to try to find a cure, and when it became apparent that she was never going to be well enough to participate, she made her friends promise they would organise a fundraiser in her memory once she passed away.
Now, a group of her friends have set up a fundraising campaign called ‘Our Promise to Stella’ using the online fundraising platform, www.idonate.ie with a fundraising target of €25,000, all of which will go directly to the Motor Neurone Disease Association. To date, almost €2,000 has been raised, and the online fundraising campaign will remain open until Easter Sunday.
The campaign will draw to a close with a bumper night of music and fun in Ned's Bar in Ballinagar, which Stella's friends feel is a fitting way to remember a “quirky, funny, loving and strong person” who loved her music and dancing! Her friends says they have no doubt that she will be with them “in spirit dancing on the tables” in Neds on Easter Sunday night, and they will be keeping their promise to her to raise funds to try to find a cure for motor neurone disease.
Along with music and dancing in Ned's Bar, a major raffle has also been organised by Stella Horan's friends, and they are asking all those who attend the event to “dig deep” into their pockets in support of the fundraiser, and to enjoy their night, as Stella would have done.
In a very poignant post on the iDonate fundraising page, the late Stella Horan is described by her friends as being someone who was “full of fun” and whose approach to her devastating illness was “a testament to her personality.” She never once gave up and she never once let her condition get her down. 
She continued to be her bubbly self...drawing funny pictures on her chalk board when her speech went...getting her nails manicured in her hospital bed, laughing and joking as normal with her beloved children, and on-line shopping became her forte...she even had everyone's Christmas presents bought online and left behind when she passed away” says the post.
All those who knew Stella Horan as the vibrant mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend and teacher that she was are urged to donate directly to the 'Our Promise to Stella' iDonate campaign and to come along to Ned's Bar in Ballinagar for an Easter Sunday night of music and fun in her memory.