Pictured at the unveiling of the plaque at “Leah’s Tree” in Park Rí Kells are Leah’s parents and sister with her grandparents, her aunties, uncles and cousins with the Park Ri management team.

Leah’s tree lit up for Christmas

The family of a young woman, who passed away in her sleep earlier this year, have said this first Christmas without her will be difficult but they are encouraged by the support of so many people around them.

Leah Farrelly, an 18-year-old student from Virginia, died on Good Friday, April 15. She worked in SuperMacs at Park Rí in Kells and last week staff and management there unveiled a special Christmas tree in her memory.

Following her tragic passing, the team at Supermacs wanted to do something to remember Leah and agreed with her family that a Sequoia tree would be planted in her name at the front of the building.

The tree, which is called ‘Leah’s Tree’, will be lit for Christmas every year and is expected to grow to between 40-50 feet tall.

Micheál McKeon, managing director, Park Rí Kells said: “We were all very shocked and saddened when we heard of the passing of Leah Farrelly and we were heartbroken for her mother Nuala, father Dessie, sister Grace and the extended Farrelly and Tully families. We wanted to do something to remember Leah here in Park Rí, so we decided, with the agreement of her parents, to plant a tree in her memory. The tree, part of the American variety of Giant Redwoods, is a Sequoia sempervirens and grows to a very large and stately coniferous tree. It will be known for years to come at Park Rí Kells as ‘Leah’s Tree’”.

Leah’s father Dessie said that, while it’s been a challenging couple of months since her death, the family are most grateful for the support they continue to receive from Leah’s wide circle of friends.

“Every milestone has been hard and Christmas is no different”, he said. “We’re devastated. But the amount of goodwill has been great. Leah touched so many people wherever she went. She was a student at TU in Grangegorman and they put the CROI charity (a charity for heart attacks and strokes) on their jerseys in her honour. Her basketball team East Cavan Eagles, who she played with since she was 10, presented her jersey to us before their first home game in the women’s national league.”

Dessie also thanked the team at Park Rí Kells for the beautiful gesture of planting a tree in Leah’s name. He also said that it was poignant that the date the Park Ri team chose to unveil the plaque at ‘Leah’s Tree’ was the first anniversary of his mother and Leah’s grandmother’s death. The much-loved Granny Monty passed away suddenly in her sleep on December 16 last year.