Wedding of the week: Long online romance before Stevie and Mairéad met
Mairéad Dunne and Stevie O’Sullivan. Pictures: Sarah Kate Murphy Photography and Red Island Photography
It’s always the most magical time of the year but for these west Cork newlyweds, this Christmas will have extra sparkle.
It was during the festive season in 2021 that Stevie O’Sullivan popped the question to Mairéad Dunne.
“We got engaged at Ballydonegan beach, Allihies, just before Christmas last year. It really made Christmas so much more special for us as we could celebrate with our family and friends,” said Mairéad, from Castletownbere.
“Stevie really put a lot of effort into the proposal, he put together a video of our favourite moments and memories and then got down on one knee and proposed.”
After exchanging vows in August this year, they returned to the scene of their first date, Dunboy, and also posed for the camera along the Caha Pass road “with its incredible views and tunnels”, adds Mairéad.“We are so lucky to have so many beautiful spots around Beara to choose from.”
She and Stevie, from Glengarriff, first encountered one another online. “I was living in Dublin and decided to move back to Cork at the beginning of lockdown in March 2020 to be closer to my family and started chatting to Stevie on Tinder,” she says.
“We had quite a long online romance before we met at the end of June, three months after first talking to each other online.
“By then we felt like we really knew each other and hit it off straight away. We first met for a walk in Dunboy and spent hours talking with a wonderful view of Ardnakinna lighthouse in Bere Island just across from us.” They were married in August in the Sacred Heart Church in Castletownbere.
“My mother’s first cousin, Monsignor Dan O’Connor, was the main celebrant and it was so lovely to have someone that knew us so well officiating the ceremony. We were also so fortunate to have present and past priests of both of our parishes there also,” says Mairéad.
Their reception took place in the Kenmare Bay Hotel and the bride describes the entire occasion as “a dream come true”: “From start to finish we had a ball and we were on cloud nine for the day. Once the band got started we danced the night away and the dancefloor was full for the night thanks to the Pat Fitz band. They were outstanding and provided so much entertainment.”
Helping them plan the fun were the bride’s parents, Ellen and Michael Dunne, and the groom’s mother and father, Julie and Patrick O’Sullivan.
Mairéad’s sister, Mary Dunne, was her maid of honour and her sisters, Patricia and Evelyn Dunne, and cousins, Marie Heffernan and Linda O’Connell, were bridesmaids while the best man was Stevie’s brother, Páidí O’Sullivan, with his friends, Robert Galvin and David Murphy, and cousins, Seán and Padraig Moynihan, as groomsmen.
The bride looked stunning in a Morilee by Madeleine Gardner dress, sourced in The Bridal House, Rathfarnham, Dublin, and the groom was dapper in a suit from Gentlemen’s Quarters.
“Liz Cott of Wondrous Weddings created the floral arrangements and a family friend made the wedding cake for us — and it vanished in seconds it was so delicious,” adds the bride.
The Glengarriff-based newlyweds’ honeymoon included a Caribbean cruise and also took in Miami and Nashville, Tennessee. “I love country music so it was great to visit Nashville and definitely get to experience all things country,” says the bride.
Mairéad is a primary school teacher and Stevie is an agricultural adviser and sheep farmer.
- If you would like your wedding featured email eve.kelliher@examiner.ie
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