Tag Archives: Barretstown

BOOKS that belonged to a Tulla teenager who was a tireless advocate for others with cancer, have been donated to charity as part of her legacy.  Labhaoise Fitzgerald passed away in January of 2021, after a seven-year battle with a rare form of brain cancer. Even in the later stages of her illness, she had been an active member of Barretstown Youth Leaders’ Council, advocating for others affected by cancer.  Since her untimely passing, Labhaoise’s friends have also been involved in fundraising in her honour. In recent times, Labhaoise’s family donated around 100 of her books to the Let’s Fund It organisation, which supports the Irish charity sector. These books will be given to children receiving support from the charity Hand in Hand, and will be included in the hospital care bags donated by Let’s Fund It. It was Labhaoise’s wish that other children would get to read them and share in the joy and happiness that the books brought …

SCHOOLMATES of the late Tulla teenager, Labhaoise Fitzgerald, have raised €10,000 for one of her favourite charities, Barretstown. The 17-year-old passed away in January after a six-year battle with an aggressive brain tumour. The pandemic restrictions in place at the time of Labhaoise’s passing meant fellow students at St Joseph’s Secondary School were unable to fully pay their respects to someone who was hugely popular and highly regarded. When they returned to school in March, they set about a virtual mountain climb in her memory and to support a charity for which Labhaoise was a passionate advocate right up to her final days. “The whole school was involved and really wanted to carry on Labhaoise’s message,” explained class teacher, Donna Fitzgerald. “We set a target of €3,000 and it’s an incredible feeling to have raised more than three times that. Different classes and the staff chose a mountain and had to clock up the steps it would take to climb …

‘AN ANGEL’ and ‘an inspiration’ were among the words used to describe Labhaoise Fitzgerald, whose funeral ceremony took place in her native Tulla on Thursday, January 7. The teenager passed away after a six-year battle with cancer, borne, her mother Louise told mourners, “with a smile on her face, a positive attitude, and a brilliant sense of humour”. Diagnosed in 2014 with a medulloblastoma, Labhaoise bravely underwent brain surgery twice, more than 60 rounds of radiotherapy and gruelling chemotherapy. All the while, she kept up her deep connection to her family: her mum and dad, Louise and Patrick, her brother Pádraig; her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and her many friends at St Joseph’s Secondary School. Labhaoise worked tirelessly to raise funds for Barretstown House where she had attended summer camps over the years and met other children like herself who were determined not to let illness get in the way of their lives. Last April, Labhaoise told The Champion …

IT’S a long way from Clare to Kildare, and one youngster who certainly knows that is fifth class Ennis National School student Aoife Keane. Aoife has just completed a mammoth cycling challenge taking in the 165km distance between both counties. Amazingly, she cycled the entire length of the route from her garage at home, raising funds for Clare Crusaders and Barretstown. So far she has raised more than €2,000 for the charities and donations can still be made for the next few weeks. While others might be exhausted after the endeavour, the 11-year-old revealed that she celebrated her triumphant end to the cycle by jumping on the family’s trampoline. She laughed, “I hadn’t been allowed on it before the cycle in case I injured myself.” Aoife moved from Naas with her parents Marie and John and younger brother Eoin to their new home of Ennis last year, with the cycle route taking in the distance between her new and old …

BEING locked down and having to work and learn at home are challenges for everyone at the moment, but for one young East Clare native, who is battling a brain tumour, these are part of normal life. Sixteen-year-old Labhaoise Fitzgerald has had brain surgery twice, as well as gruelling rounds of follow-up treatment. As well as cocooning and keeping up with her studies, Labhaoise is undergoing chemotherapy at her home in Tulla. She is also taking time out to raise funds for the Barretstown charity, which runs medically-supported holiday camps for sick children at its base in Kildare. Like all charities, Barretstown is facing a major shortfall in its funding and urging people to send a ‘virtual hug’ donating €2 in the process. Labhaoise was recently chosen as the Clare ambassador for the initiative and took part in a video with fellow ‘campers’ sending their virtual hugs to friends, family and frontline medical staff. “Barretstown picked a camper from every …