First look: Ciara Mageean marries partner in intimate Belfast ceremony

The Olympic athlete was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in May last year

Ciara Mageean married Thomas Moran in Belfast. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Olympic athlete Ciara Mageean has shared photos from a civil marriage ceremony in Belfast, where she married her partner, Thomas Moran.

Mageean, who was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in May last year, shared some snaps from their intimate ceremony and celebrations across some Belfast landmarks.

Images shot by Andrew McKenna Photography show the newlyweds sipping champagne in front of the iconic Harland & Wolff yellow cranes and strolling hand-in-hand through the city’s cobbled streets.

Mageean wore a white mini dress with long sleeves and a simple veil, while Moran wore a dark green suit.

The couple’s dog Sam also posed for pictures wearing a yellow bow tie. Mageean’s agent said the pair would celebrate with family and friends at a larger wedding party in the coming weeks.

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Mageean spoke about her bowel cancer diagnosis with the Irish Examiner in June while promoting her book, My Greatest Race.

“I don't believe that cancer happens for a reason, unfortunately. Or maybe I was meant to share my story. Maybe I was meant to raise awareness of it. I hope I survive this and I don't die young and if I do, I hope the legacy that I leave is something. But yeah, it’s a horrible thing to be going through,” she told Cathal Dennehy.

She added: “It is a very strange thing to be 34 and face the fact of your mortality being a lot more prominent on the horizon. It's a tough thing, but it comes to us all and you just don't know when.

“I'm not scared to die. I just don't want it to happen anytime soon.” 

The middle-distance runner is a two-time Olympian and has won gold, silver and bronze medals at the European Championships.