Mourners gather in Portaferry for funeral of runner Ciara Mageean

Hundreds of mourners gathered for the funeral of Irish Olympian Ciara Mageean in her hometown of Portaferry on 3 November 2026, the Daily Mail and RTE reported. According to the Daily Mail and thejournal.ie, the service took place at 2:00pm at St Patrick's Church, Ballyphilip, in Portaferry, County Down. Mageean died on 1 November 2026 at the age of 34 after a battle with bowel cancer, the outlets reported. [1][2][3][4][9][10][11]

The service was attended by prominent figures from sport and politics, including GAA President Jarlath Burns and aides-de-camp representing President Catherine Connolly and the Taoiseach, RTE reported. The funeral cortege moved from the family home to the church prior to the service, according to RTE, with burial set for the adjoining cemetery, thejournal.ie reported. [2][3][4][6]

According to thejournal.ie, Mageean died peacefully at Marie Curie Hospice on Sunday morning following a bowel cancer diagnosis last year. The Daily Mail reported that she had endured almost 20 rounds of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in 2025. Her death occurred just weeks after she married her long-term partner Thomas Moran in Belfast, thejournal.ie reported. [1][3][4]

Mageean was an Irish middle-distance runner who specialised in the 1500 metres. She won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome and represented Ireland at both the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games, as FTMQ News reported earlier. [3][12][14][15]