Funeral to be held for Irish Olympic star Ciara Mageean

The funeral is to be held for Irish Olympian Ciara Mageean who died aged 34 after suffering from cancer.

There has been a huge outpouring of grief following the death of the former European champion runner who died on Sunday surrounded by family.

Mageean, from Portaferry, Co Down, competed at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

She made history in 2024 by winning European 1500m gold in Rome, becoming just the second athlete after Sonia O’Sullivan to secure an individual European title for Ireland.

In 2025 she revealed she had been diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, with a likely terminal prognosis.

There has been a huge outpouring of grief following the death of the former European champion runner Ciara Mageean who died on Sunday surrounded by family (Mike Egerton/PA)

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She married her longtime partner, Thomas Moran, at a ceremony in Co Louth just weeks before her death on Sunday.

Her funeral service will take place in her hometown of Portaferry in St Patrick’s Church at 2.00pm on Tuesday.

Praise for Mageean’s sporting achievements as well as sadness at her untimely passing has come from across the island of Ireland, including from Irish President Catherine Connolly.

Fellow athletes including Republic of Ireland football captain Katie McCabe and fellow Olympians Keely Hodgkinson and Dina Asher-Smith have also paid tribute to Mageean.