Sheenagh Lally’s Story
"Will you bring the magic of Barretstown to another child facing serious illness this Autumn?"
Meet Sheenagh
``Mammy, I don’t want medicine today.``
That was Sheenagh’s pleading voice when she was just three years old.
Terrified of needles. Crying from pain.
A little child with blood cancer.
Her mam Catherine remembers turning her beautiful girl into a pincushion on St. John’s Ward in Crumlin Hospital - over two hours from home.
``You’re thrust into this world of therapy and treatments that make your child really unwell in order to get better.``
There were lumbar punctures. Feeding tubes. Sepsis. Side effects that took away her ability to walk.
But then came something unexpected - a spark of hope.
That hope was Barretstown, made possible by the generosity of people like you.
A place where Sheenagh could smile again. Where her family could be whole again.
Listen to Sheenagh's story
A family held together by love
Before her diagnosis, Sheenagh had a smile like sunshine.
Catherine remembers those early months of confusion - the sore tummy, the misdiagnoses, the surgeries - never suspecting the cancer working quietly in her blood and bone marrow.
The day the call came was the night before Catherine’s birthday. She was with her family, having pizza. Blood results had come back after Sheenagh’s appendix surgery.
``They told me Sheenagh had to come back right away. That night.``
“Her cells are all the same under the slide,” they said. “Blasts.” Leukaemia.”
In an instant, everything changed.
Arthur and Tadhg, Sheenagh’s big brothers, stayed with Catherine’s parents. Their mam was gone for ten days straight, by Sheenagh’s side.
“From trusted friends and neighbours, from family, and from amazing organisations like Barretstown - just welcome the support that’s offered. That’s the advice I’d give to any family.”
Barretstown couldn’t exist without kind people here at home who give so selflessly.
Even then, help was already on its way, made possible by the kindness of people like you.
Symptoms out of the blue
It began like so many childhood illnesses do - with a tummy ache.
Then came a suspected urinary tract infection. Antibiotics.
Even an operation to remove her appendix.
After surgery, it seemed like Sheenagh was finally flying it.
But the cancer was hiding in her blood, in her bone marrow - “notoriously hard to diagnose,” Catherine says.
Then, during a family pizza night before Catherine’s birthday, the hospital called.
“Part of me hoped it was a routine update, even at that hour.”
It wasn’t.
“They told me Sheenagh had to come back right away. That night.”
“Her cells are all the same under the slide,” they said. White blood cells called ‘blasts’ were multiplying out of control.”
All Catherine could think was:
“Can’t she have just one more night at home?”
The days that took her joy
Sheenagh endured what no child should have to face.
Six lumbar punctures to monitor her bone marrow.
A feeding tube through her nose.
Steroid-induced weakness that left her afraid to walk.
And sepsis - a runaway infection that nearly claimed her life.
“I stopped trying to stay at a hotel the night before hospital visits. Somehow Sheenagh knew a hotel stay wasn’t exciting. It meant more treatments. More needles. She’d cry all night long, afraid of what might be coming.”
Through it all, Catherine and her family leaned on one another - and on the kindness of others.
“Just welcome the support that’s offered… from amazing organisations like Barretstown.”
When they arrived at camp, it felt like something impossible had become real.
“Even in the toughest times, the magic of Barretstown was made possible by the generosity of people like you.”
At Barretstown, joy and laughter found their way back to Sheenagh - and to her whole family.
The magic of camp
That first chance to come to a Barretstown Open Day was pure magic.
Here was a place where the boys could just be boys.
Where Sheenagh met little friends like her.
Where everyone understood.
When we were invited back for a full weekend, we jumped at the chance.
“We were so blessed to come for two incredible weekends thanks to you.”
At Barretstown, the joy of childhood life returned.
Accept the help that’s offered
We were already living with my mam and dad when Sheenagh got sick. My sister was a total godsend. Sheenagh’s dad would take the boys at weekends.
It wasn’t easy. But the support we received made all the difference.
“Accept the help that’s offered. It’s the most precious advice I’d share with any family hearing that terrifying cancer diagnosis”
From trusted friends and neighbours, from family, and from amazing organisations like Barretstown that couldn’t exist without caring people like you.
Because when we were completely exhausted, the magic of Barretstown found us - and the joy of childhood life returned.
Barretstown is one of the worthiest charities I know. And your gift to help fund a magic ticket will make a massive difference to a child’s life…Thank you for being the kind of person who believes in bringing childhood back. Donate Today
Your magic ticket can give childhood back
I keep thinking how, because you support this remarkable place at the edge of the Wicklow Mountains, children and families come away changed from when they first pass through the castle gates.
“It really hit home for me when I saw how easily Sheenagh and the boys made friends and joined in activities.”
One boy had a brain tumour. But to Arthur and Tadhg, he wasn’t his diagnosis - he was just another mate to bring on adventures.
“It’s a compassion and a way of caring for others that I don’t think they would ever have learned anywhere else.”
They’ll be changed by it for life. And that’s down to you - giving to keep every blade of grass, every stone, every tree, and every pathway here… for children with cancer, and the families who love them.
Hear from the Lally’s - Catherine, Arthur, Tadhg and Sheenagh
“Barretstown is one of the worthiest charities I know, and your gift to help fund a magic ticket will make a massive difference to a child’s life… and to a family just like mine, who loves them.”
I hope you’ll give today - whatever you can - to help another child and family experience the joy and healing that only Barretstown can bring.
Please read my letter to hear how much your kindness would mean to us.
The Lally's LetterCould you bring hope and healing magic to another child in Ireland facing serious illness this autumn... and to their family who loves them? Even if you can only give a little today, someone else will do the same. And together, you’ll make it possible. Donate Today
“Who could believe that this beautiful little girl, who endured lumbar punctures, chemotherapy sickness, trauma from needles, and countless infections due to leukaemia, would stand so proudly before the camera at camp?” - Sheenagh’s mum, Catherine