THERE was great cause for celebration at the Rineen Ambush centenary events on Sunday as Joseph O’Neill, the great-grandson of Comdt. Ignatius O’Neill of the Mid Clare Brigade, proposed to his partner, Megan Roots at Spanish Point.
A large crowd had gathered that morning at Miltown Malbay for the unveiling of a plaque to his great-grandfather, and Joseph’s father, John delivered an address at the remembrance ceremony.
Asked where the proposal happened, Joseph said: “It was when we got back to the Armada Hotel and everybody was getting settled and chatting… it was pretty bad weather and I could see there was a break in the clouds so I took Megan outside on a three-minute walk along the coast.
“I had the engagement ring for three months now and I kept it with me pretty much at any given point for a month and a half and I was waiting for the right moment.”
Ahead of the special moment the couple were on the grounds of the hotel posing for photos for his sister Jenna. He said he wanted her to take one more photo, and then got down on bended knee to pop the question to Megan.
And did he get the right answer? “I got an emphatic ‘yes’ and then she started crying,” he said.
Joseph was especially happy when the Defence Forces Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Adrian Ó Murchú during his address at The Armada hotel gave the newly engaged couple a shout-out and joked he expected an invitation to the wedding.
“It was nice the way it all worked out,” Joseph said.
Twenty eight year old Joseph is a captain in the US Air Force based at RAF Mildenhall and 27- year- old Megan works as a property manager. The couple have been based in Bury Saint Edmunds in the UK for the last two years. It was his second time visiting Ireland and her first. However, a future visit is possible as the American couple are not ruling out tying the knot in County Clare.
Sharon Dolan D’Arcy covers West Clare news. After completing a masters in journalism at University of Galway, Sharon worked as a court reporter at the Sligo Weekender. She was also editor of the Athenry News and Views.