Newstalk presenter Ciara Kelly has spoken candidly about the profound grief she has endured in recent months, following the death of her beloved older sister, Dara, who passed away in February just nine months after receiving a cancer diagnosis.
“She was lovely. She was my big sister and I was a bit of brat, robbing her stuff when I was younger [laughs]. She was always protective of me at the same time,” Ciara told RSVP Live.
Dara worked as a secondary school teacher and left a lasting impression on her pupils’ lives. “I’ve gotten tons of messages from her former students. People have told me how she touched their lives and made a difference when they were younger.
“Former colleagues of hers got in touch too, they said they always had a laugh with her in the staff room. It makes such a difference to get those messages.”
Ciara Kelly for RSVP Magazine(Image: Kate Nolan)
Dara was a wonderful person and deeply committed to her pupils, Ciara recalls. “She was a straight-up kind of person. She would never tell a lie and was very honourable. At the same time, she was also good fun and a bit of a messer.”
Ciara says the loss still feels utterly unreal to her, reports RSVP Live. “Her husband and kids come over to me for dinner. We chat about her and remember her. We’d be teary too, but that’s just grief. You’re up and down.
“One minute you’re laughing and one minute you’re crying. Sometimes I shed a tear and I am surprised by it. I think I am still processing. I am not sure what it will be like when I come out the other side.”
Was it a different kind of grief compared to when Ciara’s parents passed away?
RSVP June cover 2026
“I’ve lost both my parents and that is very hard. But that’s the natural order of things. Obviously I was devastated, my dad died when he was only in his 60s. I had just turned 30 and I was so shocked. My mum happened years later, and it was easier to cope with as she was older and so was I.
“Losing your parents is one thing, but you’re not supposed to lose your siblings. That feels totally different. Siblings are young and they’re not supposed to die. Her illness was quite quick, she was only sick for nine months from the diagnosis until her death. It’s not long at all.”
Dara has two wonderful children and a brilliant husband, Ciara says, and the family firmly believes in leaning on one another during difficult times like these. “Us all talking to each other about it helps. My niece is also a teacher now too, it’s like a legacy.”
People have even approached Ciara in the street to pay their respects. “I was walking up the main street in my town, where I live and where I was a GP, after Dara died.
“A woman stopped me, she was a former patient. She told me she was really sorry for my loss and that I was her GP when her own sister died. She said, ‘You really helped me’. She and I ended up a bit teary.”
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