{"id":609341,"date":"2026-08-30T15:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T15:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/609341\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T15:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T15:22:14","slug":"woman-grateful-for-gift-of-wedding-to-late-husband-in-wicklow-hospice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/609341\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman grateful for \u2018gift\u2019 of wedding to late husband in Wicklow hospice"},"content":{"rendered":"

A WOMAN HAS said she will do \u201ceverything\u201d she can for a hospice after the extraordinary care provided to her partner included their wedding day in his final weeks.<\/p>\n

Antoinette Coakley married her husband Damien at Our Lady\u2019s Hospice & Care Services Wicklow in an intimate wedding last year \u2013 the first time such a ceremony was held at the centre.<\/p>\n

He sadly died the following month but Antoinette said the compassion provided to their family allowed the couple to finally get married and also to \u201cbe ourselves\u201d by continuing a relationship defined by fun, laughter and care.<\/p>\n

Coakley said that without the services, her husband\u2019s wishes to pass away at the hospice instead of home would not have been met, adding: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have been able to be his wife and we wouldn\u2019t have been able to care for him the way that the hospice cared for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
\n Damien Coakley, pictured with Antoinette, back left, and daughters Mia, front, and Leah on a family holiday (Damien Coakley\/PA)\n<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Press Association, she said: \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have had the fun \u2013 we still were able to be ourselves, and if we were at home we wouldn\u2019t have been ourselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere would have been extra strain on our family and he would have been in more pain. He got to go the way he wanted to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
\n Damien Coakley with Antoinette and daughter Mia (Damien Coakley\/PA)\n<\/p>\n

She is now encouraging others to support a national fundraiser for hospice care in September by donating or taking part in coffee mornings across the country.<\/p>\n

Antoinette Carney \u2013 as she was known at the time \u2013 met Damien Coakley in 2009 when he walked into the Tesco in which she and some of his friends were working, and joined in on some of the joking and \u201cslagging\u201d.<\/p>\n

He came back later that day and \u201cplucked up the courage\u201d to ask for her phone number, leading to a date in Bray on the same as the Wimbledon final \u2013 with Coakley adamant he did not mind if she watched it before coming to meet him.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
\n Antoinette and Damien exchange rings during the wedding ceremony at Wicklow Hospice (Corrine Crennan Photography\/PA)\n<\/p>\n

It took Roger Federer more than four-and-a-quarter hours to triumph over Andy Roddick \u2013 but Coakley stuck around and was still there when she showed up hours late.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always slagged me over that \u2013 we had a great relationship with fun and banter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside his joking and sociability, she said Coakley was known for always thinking of others first including her, his daughter Leah from a previous relationship, and later the child he would share with Antoinette \u2013 Mia.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
\n Antoinette, centre, with Mia, left, and Leah (Corrine Crennan Photography\/PA)\n<\/p>\n

She explained that Mia inherited some of her father\u2019s sense of humour: \u201cTheir relationship was amazing. From the age she was able to talk, he\u2019d be making sure that she was slagging me and having a laugh \u2013 and because we weren\u2019t married and the odd time he would call me by second name, Mia picked up on that \u2013 and even till this day, she still calls me Carney.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always the two of them against me that they had the same second name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antoinette would joke back that she would \u201cnever want to be a Coakley\u201d and that \u201cthe Carneys are better\u201d, adding: \u201cIf people didn\u2019t know they\u2019d think \u2018that\u2019s a bit weird\u2019 but it\u2019s just the way we were.\u201d.<\/p>\n

The jokes continued in their happy family life in Wicklow and holidays abroad, but their lives changed when Damien was devastatingly diagnosed with cancer in 2021.<\/p>\n

He went through several treatments including with radium and chemotherapy as he tried to live \u201cas normal as he possibly could\u201d for his daughters.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
\n Antoinette, front left, with Mia, Leah and Damien (Corrine Crennan Photography\/PA)\n<\/p>\n

However, his situation deteriorated with infection between April and the end of 2024 \u2013 leading them to be told \u201cthey couldn\u2019t do anything else\u201d by February last year, and the couple checking out Our Lady\u2019s Hospice in Wicklow, part of Together for Hospice.<\/p>\n

While Antoinette found it difficult and \u201ccried every single day\u201d, Damien decided he \u201chad a good life\u201d and \u201cdid not want to be a burden\u201d, adding: \u201cI know I can pass away here.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he made that decision for his family \u2013 and she feels she needs to carry on that legacy.<\/p>\n

Antoinette said the care and support provided to the whole family was \u201cfantastic\u201d and a \u201ctotally different concept to the hospital\u201d, adding that they made them feel \u201cat home\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe connection as a family that we all made with every single person up there was amazing. They just did everything for us and they looked after all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the Coakley-Carney rivalry \u2013 and with Mia\u2019s help \u2013 Damien had proposed to Antoinette before entering hospice, but his deteriorating health meant conversations around a wedding were put aside.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot
\n Antoinette and Damien moments after the wedding ceremony (Corrine Crennan Photography\/PA)\n<\/p>\n

On becoming aware of their wish to get married, a hospice social worker Gr\u00e1inne quickly suggested and was able to arrange everything for them to hold a small, intimate wedding at the centre.<\/p>\n

In a flurry, rings, a suit and a dress were purchased, a celebrant who incorporated their sense of humour \u2013 including Roger Federer jokes \u2013 was arranged, and a room at the hospice was set up for the wedding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted Damien to get through the day without pain and not having to be fussed around \u2013 but now, like looking back in the photos, it\u2019s just lovely to have, and another gift that was given to us from the hospice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gr\u00e1inne, who acted as matron of honour, also arranged a wedding message from Jamie Carragher for the Liverpool-mad family.<\/p>\n

After their \u201clovely\u201d day, Damien fought on for several more weeks.<\/p>\n

Surrounded by loved ones and after playing Kodaline\u2019s All I Want, Damien died aged 51 shortly after midnight into 15 June \u2013 Father\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have every belief that he did hang on; he had such a special bond with the girls, and he was so proud that he was a dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antoinette is now encouraging others to support \u201cIreland\u2019s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice\u201d on 24 September or, or a date that suits, by hosting or attending an event and donating through hospicecoffeemorning.ie or 0818 995 996.<\/p>\n

She will be hosting a coffee morning in the Ballybrack Tesco \u2013 noting her employer had been very supportive through Damian\u2019s illness.<\/p>\n

On supporting the coffee mornings, Antoinette said: \u201cWe built relationships with people who really care for other families and put us ahead of their own families.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had people by our sides throughout all of this and if it takes someone having a cup of coffee to tell people how they feel, or if they need help in any way, not just the hospice, that people just talk and take care of each other and be there for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A WOMAN HAS said she will do \u201ceverything\u201d she can for a hospice after the extraordinary care provided…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[258158,258159,93,258160,61,60,258161,7469],"class_list":["post-609341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-antoinette-coakley","tag-damien-coakley","tag-entertainment","tag-hospice-wedding","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-our-ladys-hospice-care-services","tag-wicklow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609341","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=609341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}