'She never forgot her roots' - hometown and school tributes to Ciara Mageean

Former European champion and two-time Olympian Ciara Mageean has been described as "selfless" by staff from her former school.

Mageean, from Portaferry in County Down, was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in May 2025.

She died on Sunday morning, surrounded by her loved ones, a statement posted on her social media accounts said.

Marcelle Orsi, vice-principal of Assumption Grammar School in Ballynahinch, said the loss will be felt "by so many for many years to come".

"Everybody was so devastated and heartbroken with the news of Ciara's passing," Orsi said.

"She left 16 or 17 years ago but was a great advocate for all the sport here.

"If you think what we try to develop and foster within our own students - commitment, dedication, tenacity, compassion - Ciara Mageean was an Assumption girl through and through."

Orsi added that the school will remember Mageean as "the smiling, bubbly vivacious girl who was always willing to help anybody".

"That selflessness was there right to the end," she told BBC News NI.

She said Mageean will always be remembered in the school, with her photos displayed in the corridors.

"She lived and breathed this school and it was only fair we showed how proud of her we were. She brought us so much."

Mageean's funeral will take place near her family home on Tuesday, with a ceremony at St Patrick's Church, Ballyphilip, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery.

Her death comes less than three weeks after her marriage to her long-term partner Thomas Moran.

The athlete represented Ireland at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics and won gold in the 1500m at the European Athletics Championships in Rome in 2024.

She also represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games, winning silver in Birmingham in 2022.

One Portaferry resident, Maureen McCarthy, told BBC News NI she was "heartbroken, she was just such a lovely person. nobody nicer".

"She was a star, an absolute star and treated everybody the same, nobody was any different no matter who you were.

"Everybody is devastated, absolutely devastated."

She said Mageean's grandparents "were the first friends that we made whenever we came to Portaferry way back in 1989.

"So I remember when she was born, I remember when her mummy and dad were married, I was at their wedding."

Another Portaferry resident, Josephine McClurg, said she "just sat and cried" when she heard the news of Mageean's death.

"I couldn't believe it," she told BBC News NI.

She added that everybody in Portaferry "thought highly" of Mageean.

SDLP Councillor Joe Boyle attended Mageean's wedding reception - held two weeks after the civil ceremony - in County Louth a week ago.

He said it had been a "fantastic day, Ciara in her element enjoying everybody's company, enjoying all her friends, those that were closest to her and had time for everybody, photographs with everyone.

"We had so many tears of joy to see Ciara eventually get married.

"She was very determined and whatever Ciara said she would do she would do.

"Lo and behold a week later and here we are, tears of sorrow and Portaferry as a community just cast into such sadness with such a dark cloud over it because everybody loved Ciara."

Speaking to BBC Good Morning Ulster athlete Katie Kirk, who competed alongside Mageean, recalled her first experience of training with her at Mary Peters tracks in Belfast for a cross-country session.

"Even then she was great fun, very determined, focused".

Kirk commended Mageean's success saying "she achieved so much" even through "incredibly difficult" times.

"She still came out, she still spoke to people, she still took pictures with children and participated fully in life.

"That for me is just the essence of who she is," she added.

In many interviews that she gave following her diagnosis last year, Mageean spoke candidly about the symptoms she experienced which led her to seek medical help.

She also worked with a charity that promotes bowel cancer awareness.

Noticing blood in your poo - which may appear black or dark red in the toilet bowl - can be a sign of bowel cancer.

If there is no other obvious cause for the bleeding, such as piles, the NHS recommends that you ask for an appointment with your GP.

The NHS also advises a check-up if you notice changes in your regular toilet habits, such as having to poo more often, or a pattern of diarrhoea or constipation.

Abdominal pain or lumps, stomach bloating and unexplained weight loss are also among symptoms which should lead to a bowel cancer test.

Bowel cancer can also cause anaemia, the features of which include extreme tiredness and shortness of breath.

The earlier bowel cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat.