Ciarán and Emily raise €5k for Little Princess children’s charity

Local photographer Ciarán Culligan has raised an incredible €4,780 for the Little Princess children’s charity after running the Dublin City Marathon.

Ten years after his last marathon, Ciaran was inspired to take on the feat by his nine-year-old daughter Emily, who wanted to fundraise for the charity which provides wigs for children who have Alopecia or are undergoing cancer treatment.

Ciarán told the Democrat: “Emily, my nine-year-old daughter has had Alopecia since she was 18 months old.

“She asked for a wig on the June bank holiday during Covid as she was going to big girls’ school.

“The wig was delivered June 2020 after an amazing response and service from the Little Princess Trust and the wonderful wig company, who did great consultations over FaceTime and WhatsApp due to Covid.”

Kindhearted Emily asked Ciarán to run another marathon, to help raise funds for the charity and give another child the gift of being able to wear a wig when they choose.

The pair set up a GoFundMe page and Emily and her cousins held a bake sale on their street.

Emily’s school St Malachy’s Girls NS also collected money through a Halloween fancy dress day.

Having run his last marathon in 2012 before Emily and her sister Grace were born, Ciarán was thankful the run went to plan, running a PB of 2.51:16.

“Having my two daughters see me complete the marathon for the first time was brilliant,” said Ciarán.

“Emily has a wonderful and caring nature and it makes me very proud to see her wanting to give back to others.

“She also made me fall in love with running again and I will be forever grateful to her for that.

“I’d like to thank my amazing family, friends and Emily’s school for their amazing support.”