Chai Brady
Ciara Mageean in good spirits at the final of the Women’s 1500 metres at the European Athletics Championships during the European Championships Munich 2022. Ciara Mageean hailed by parish before Paris Olympics
Celebrated runner Ciara Mageean who is set to represent Ireland in the Paris Olympics has been described as a “natural evangeliser” who is not ashamed to speak of her Catholic Faith.
Fr Feargal McGrady PP of Ms Mageean’s home parish of Portaferry, Co. Down said locally they are “very, very proud of Ciara”.
Speaking of the middle-distance runner’s influence on young people, Fr McGrady said: “I do know that she has a big impact on the young people when she speaks to them – and to everybody.
“When she gets home to her family, she has so little time on her hands before she is called back to training but she always, always gives time to the local schools and the young people, to have a word with them,” he said.
“I believe in her own way Ciara is a natural evangeliser and she is not ashamed at all to talk about her Catholic, Christian Faith – she has courage in that way. And besides all of that she is just a lovely person.”
Adding to an already trophy studded career, Ms Mageean clinched gold in the 1,500m final in Stadio Olimpico in Rome last month at the European Championships, but it is not her favourite medal according to Fr McGrady who said: “When she was in one of our primary schools, one of the children asked her, what is your favourite medal? And she immediately took out the miraculous medal from around her neck and said ‘this is my most important and favourite medal’.
“It is that kind of example that as parish priest in the area I deeply cherish and that she is very much respected for,” he said.
“Ciara often talks about the faith passed on to her, by her parents of course, but especially her grandparents. Not that long ago she was back home and the area put on a welcome for her and it was a wonderful occasion for the people to thank Ciara for being such a fine ambassador for Portaferry, the Ards and also our parish,” Fr McGrady added.
In a 2019 interview with the Belfast Telegraph Ms Mageean spoke of her Faith and prayer life. Ms Mageean said: “I usually pray for family and friends but I also pray that I can go out (to compete) and walk away happy.
“People might go, ‘She’s a wee Holy Joe’ and my friends do joke about it, but I grew up in a Catholic household and went to Mass every weekend and it means a lot to me. I see prayer as a form of meditation and I also see the sort of strength it gave my granny when she had cancer and was near the end of her life.”