Betty Morgan from Tallaght with her daugthers Catriona and Martina holding a photograph of her deceased donor son Eamonn attending the Irish Kidney Association 40th Annual Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving Photo by Conor McCabe
Éamonn’s great gift of organ donation transforms two lives
The Irish Kidney Association hosted its 40th Annual Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving, drawing a congregation of approximately 1,500 people from across Ireland and overseas to the Church of the Holy Child, Whitehall, Dublin.
The unique and poignant event, held on Saturday honoured deceased organ donors and their families, while celebrating the renewed lives of transplant recipients.
Now in its 40th year, the service has become a deeply meaningful annual gathering for donor families and organ transplant recipients, many of whom attend every year to reflect, remember, and give thanks.
One of the deceased organ donor family representatives taking part in an offertory procession was Betty Morgan from Tallaght, mother of deceased donor Éamonn.
The father of one was 44-years -old when he passed away in December 2021 following a brain haemorrhage.
His kidneys were donated and the two recipients have corresponded anonymously with Betty to express their profound gratitude.
This inclusive ceremony brought together celebrants from various faith traditions and non-religious worldviews, each united in their support for organ donation as the ultimate act of humanity.
A letter of support from President Michael D. Higgins, patron to the Irish Kidney Association, was read aloud at the Service by Colin White, National Advocacy & Projects Manager for the Irish Kidney Association.
“I extend my support and thanksgiving for the great gift of organ donation, which has transformed and enriched so many lives, allowing new possibilities and new opportunities for recipients and their loved ones,” his letter said.
The service included symbolic processions of donor families and transplant recipients bringing gifts to the altar, musical performances from the Whitehall Church Adult Choir, harpist and vocalist Marina Cassidy, and soloist Keith Matthews, and the lighting of remembrance candles during the Service of Light.
Among the young kidney and liver transplant recipients who took part a symbolic procession carrying items of importance to them was 11-year-old Sofia Corey from Walkinstown.
The names of deceased organ donors were honoured through entry into the Book of Remembrance, and the congregation was invited to place handwritten remembrance cards bearing the names of their loved ones into baskets at the altar.
These cards will be incorporated in the Circle of Life National Organ Donor Commemorative Garden in Salthill, Galway, by the garden’s founders, Martina and Denis Goggin.
