Connacht Tribune
Neighbours put on alternative party for couple forced to postpone wedding
By JOHN FALLON
A healthcare worker whose wedding at the weekend was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic was stunned when her neighbours staged an alternative street and garden ceremony to mark the occasion.
Sadhlóg Ní Chualáin, a midwife at University College Hospital Galway, was due to marry Tom Sweeney at St James’ Church in Bushypark, but realised a few weeks ago that they would have to postpone the wedding.
Over 170 guests were due to attend the wedding banquet in nearby Glenlo Abbey Hotel – but Sadhlóg, whose family background is in Carna and Moycullen, and Tom, a cabinet-maker who is from Islandeady in Mayo, were left with little choice but to shelve the plans for the big day as restrictions kicked in.
But the couple’s neighbours at Canal Court in the city centre were determined to make the most of what should have been their wedding day and staged a surprise ceremony and party while at the same time adhering to social distancing and other restrictions.
“We got a hint something was happening when one of our neighbours, six-year old Cillian McLoughlin, put an invitation in the postbox on Thursday asking us to a garden party on Saturday,” said Sadhlóg. “We have wonderful neighbours here and on Canal Road where we have been living for the past three years.”
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