{"id":530452,"date":"2026-07-03T03:35:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T03:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/530452\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T03:35:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T03:35:16","slug":"natalie-and-ella-mclaughlin-remembered-with-beautiful-anniversary-tribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/530452\/","title":{"rendered":"Natalie and Ella McLaughlin remembered with beautiful anniversary tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"

A place once filled with happy family days has become a place of remembrance for Natalie and Ella McLaughlin, one year on from the tragic collision that claimed their lives.<\/p>\n

Family, friends and members of the community gathered at Pollan Beach in Ballyliffin this evening for the unveiling of a memorial bench in honour of the much-loved mother and daughter.<\/p>\n

Natalie, aged 27, and her six-year-old daughter Ella died following a collision at Carrowmore, Glentogher, near Carndonagh, on 2nd July 2025.<\/p>\n

A pretty pink bench, looking out towards Glashedy, now stands close to the playground and the swings where Natalie, Ella and Natalie’s youngest, little Rhea-Rose, shared precious days together.<\/p>\n

People gathered wearing pink T-shirts bearing a photo of Natalie and Ella, as the McLaughlin family marked the first anniversary with music, a blessing, a minute\u2019s silence and a balloon release.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Thursday’s gathering at Pollan Beach for the unveiling of a memorial bench in memory of Natalie and Ella McLaughlin.<\/p>\n

Natalie\u2019s sister Lara stood beside her mother Joanne as she read moving words of happier times.<\/p>\n

\u201cPollan Beach has so many precious memories for us, it\u2019s where we shared so many happy times together,\u201d Lara said.<\/p>\n

She spoke of memories on the swings, with Ella \u201cscreaming to be pushed higher every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n You may also be interested in\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Raphoe<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Appeal<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cElla was always the loudest, most vibrant child in the room,\u201d Lara said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was incredibly confident, full of crazy personality, always keeping Natalie and little Rhea on their toes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natalie was a popular nurse in a local practice in Carndonagh, and Lara said Natalie\u2019s caring ways and devotion to her daughters was at the heart of who she was.<\/p>\n

\u201cNatalie adored her girls,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer genuine kindness and care for others shone in everything she did. Her whole world revolved around Ella, Rhea and her family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The memorial bench features a photograph of Natalie pushing Ella on the swing, along with a plaque in their memory.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bench is more than just somewhere to sit, it\u2019s a place to remember our two beautiful girls who are loved so deeply and missed so much,\u201d Lara said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that everyone who sits here will take a moment to think of them and enjoy the beauty of this place just like Natalie and Ella did.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough they are no longer here with us, their love will always remain in our hearts and their memory will live on here at Pollan Beach.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gathering was held around the same time as last July\u2019s collision, allowing the McLaughlin family to be surrounded by love and support at a difficult hour.<\/p>\n

Rhea-Rose, who survived the crash, was among the family members present for the unveiling. Now aged two and a half, Rhea-Rose had suffered two broken femurs but has since made a strong recovery.<\/p>\n

Ahead of this evening’s unveiling<\/a>, Joanne spoke of how Natalie and Ella have left \u201ca massive, massive hole\u201d in the lives of the whole family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still in shock that they are not here. They were two perfect people. They were a beautiful mother and daughter,” said Joanne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A place once filled with happy family days has become a place of remembrance for Natalie and Ella…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-530452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}