Rebecca lights up at Kinder Egg proposal in Ballycotton
Ryan Johnson, 23, from Plymouth in Devon, hid an engagement ring inside the popular children’s treat before becoming the first man to propose atop Ballycotton lighthouse, off the Cork coast.
The sweet proposal on the lighthouse balcony was enough to light up the face of his delighted but stunned girlfriend, Rebecca Daly, 21, who said yes.
They haven’t picked a date for the wedding yet.
Ryan placed a engagement ring and a Lego figure with the words ‘will you marry me’ on its shirt, inside the egg’s case. He then reconstructed the chocolate and rewrapped the case.
And against the backdrop of breath-taking scenery just after 12pm on Wednesday, he took Rebecca’s breath away when he dropped on one knee to pop the question.
“Becca loves Kinder Eggs and I wanted to do something unique,” Ryan said.
“Organising the egg took a lot of patience — to unfold the foil and split the chocolate carefully and put it back together again.”
The couple arrived last weekend with their five-month-old daughter Lyra and friends Kevin and Christina for a week-long holiday.
Rebecca, who visited relations Hugh and Catherine Moran, in Ballincollig, Co Cork, has been here before, and had visited most of the region’s tourist attractions.
So when Ryan heard about the new Ballycotton lighthouse tours, he knew that was where he would pop the question.
The couple climbed to the lighthouse balcony on Wednesday where Ryan produced the Kinder Egg.
“She was delighted when I gave her the egg,” he said.
“I was nervous as hell but she seemed even more delighted when she realised what was going on.”
Rebecca said she didn’t realise at first what was happening.
“I didn’t know the wrapper had been opened before,” she said.
“I ate the chocolate and handed the case back to him, and said he could have whatever toy was inside.
“But he said I had to open it, so I did, and there inside, wrapped in tissue paper, was a Lego man holding an engagement ring.
“When I looked up, Ryan was down on one knee. I think I had to pick my jaw back up off the floor.”
Derry Keogh, a retired Ballycotton school headmaster and local historian who was leading the lighthouse tour, said the others on the tour gathered round to sing ‘Congratulations’ to the newly engaged couple.
“It is great to see romance is alive and well and lovely to see a young couple so deeply in love,” said Mr Keogh.
A spokeswoman for Ballycotton Island Lighthouse Tours also offered congratulations.
“May their relationship be as strong and sturdy and withstand the tests of time, just as the lighthouse itself has,” she said.
The lighthouse compound was built on the nine-acre island in 1845, and its lantern was first lit in 1851. It was automated in 1992, and its fog signal was finally decommissioned in 2011.
Since its construction, the lighthouse and its island were only accessible to Commissioner of Irish Lights staff and their families. But since the launch of the lighthouse tours in early July, more than 1,700 people have visiting the island, resulting in a huge economic boost to businesses in the area.
