Our wedding story: ‘The Liam McCarthy Cup was guest of honour’

Mairead (28) and Richard (30), both from Graignamanagh, Co Kilkenny, met as teenagers.

“Richard was around our house a lot hanging out with my brother Ken. He arrived one night when Ken wasn’t home and my parents were surprised when he had said he wasn’t there to see him but me.”

They first kissed on St Patrick’s Day 2005, and started dating when Mairead was finished the Leaving Cert. “As Richard said in his wedding speech, I was playing hard-to-get but, really, I was just trying to study.”

Richard proposed on Christmas Day 2012, their first Christmas in their new house, and on June 5th, 2015, they were married by family friend Fr Odhran Furlong in Duiske Abbey.

“When I saw Mairead walking up the aisle she was so amazing I gave my best man a dig and just said ‘wow’,” said the groom.

Music in church was provided by the The Musix Factor String Quartet; Flowers by Michelle did the floral arrangements; and a Rockfield Ice Cream cart was waiting for guests outside the church.

The reception was in Step House Hotel, Borris, Co Carlow, where the Loose Cannons and DJ played that night.

Mairead’s dress was by Eliza Jane Howell and her shoes, a Christmas present from her fiancé, were Jimmy Choo.

Maid of honour, the bride's sister Eleanor Morgan, and bridesmaid Aine Phelan wore dresses from Ghost. The couple's goddaughter Alice May Doyle was the flower girl. Ken Morgan drove his sister to the church; Richard's sister Jennifer Doyle did a reading; Mairead's friend Ellen sang Mo ghrá Thú, a Thiarna.

Special credit goes to the mothers of the bride and groom, Dolores and Helen, who put the Child of Prague out and ensured a beautiful sunny day for their children.

Guest of honour was the Liam McCarthy Cup which was passed around all the tables at the reception. “It got people who wouldn’t have known each other, chatting and talking,” said Mairead.

The newlyweds honeymooned in Dubai and Mauritius.

Photographs: James Hearne Photography jameshearnephotography.com