Carrick Circus Panto raises €28K in memory of Emma Keenan

With the memory of a young woman at its heart, a fundraiser in Carrickmacross has provided a fitting tribute to Emma Keenan, who died from Cystic Fibrosis at just 17 years.

Her mother, Fánchea Keenan, spoke about the event held in Emma’s memory, describing a pantomime staged by local man, Ollie Martin, as a particularly apt celebration of Emma’s life. Known for her love of laughter, her talent for mimicry and her vibrant personality, Emma would have relished an occasion like it.

Emma died in May 2011, three months before her 18th birthday. Diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at birth, she faced repeated hospital stays, infections, surgery and daily treatment.

Her adoring mother remembers her humour, curiosity and determination to join in: “She was always a little bit of a divil! She loved nothing more than company and spins in the car in the front seat. She loved occasions where she got out of the house because she would have missed a lot of time at school and spent a lot of time in hospital. She was very much a people person; she was nosy and she wanted to know everything about everybody. She was a lovable rogue and we had some very good times with her.”

At family gatherings, Emma was the centre of attention. She loved holidays, Westlife, Daniel O’Donnell and being surrounded by her cousins.

“We all just fell around her. We miss that so much. When we get together now, we tell stories about what she was like so that the younger members of the family who weren’t lucky enough to meet her know all the stories about cousin or auntie Emma.”

A pantomime in

Emma’s memory

Ollie Martin, who grew up near Fánchea and later worked with her, told her he had written a pantomime, the proceeds of which would go to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland in Emma’s memory.

Fánchea said she was “taken aback” by the playwright’s gesture and how he remembered Emma always sitting in the front row at local productions.

“From the very first time he mentioned this, Ollie wanted it to be about Emma and for the benefit of people with Cystic Fibrosis. He never wanted the spotlight. He spent months writing it, put in so much effort and did a lot of the work behind the scenes before he ever mentioned it to me. It is really a testament to Ollie that he thought of our family,” Fánchea added.

In January 2026, Ollie announced that his show ‘LaLa’s Circus’ was ready to stage. Members of the Farney Players teamed up with local performers and volunteers for a four-night run at the Holy Family Hall, Carrickmacross last April, with every performance selling out.

Thanking Mr Martin, local actors/comedians and absolutely everyone involved in the panto, who devoted months of their free time to rehearsals, Fánchea said Emma would have wholeheartedly approved of the production. “She would just have been in her glory,” she laughed.

‘Anything we needed just came to us’

Businesses and residents donated prizes, sponsorship and practical help. Carrick Emmets loaned a card machine, volunteers ushered and cleaned, and larger prizes went into a Panto Super Draw.

“Carrick’s a great town. There are so many good people within the community. I didn’t have to go and beg for anything. Anything that we needed to put this on, it just came to us. They say it takes a village to raise a child, well, it takes a town to put on a panto!” Fánchea commented.

After costs, the pantomime raised €28,595 for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, which surpassed the Keenan family’s wildest expectations, with the cheque presentation happening recently.

Support from

the beginning

“Back in January, when Ollie rang me, I thought there would be five or six thousand raised and it would be a great boost. The total amount raised was €28,595. The staff of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland in Rathmines were absolutely blown away. They couldn’t believe that a panto in a town would raise that kind of money, but that really is a testament to the people of Carrick and the surrounding areas,” Fánchea added.

Cystic Fibrosis Ireland supported the Keenans from Emma’s earliest days after she was born in July 1993.

“Cystic Fibrosis Ireland came into play when we needed more information, were discharged from hospital and were at home dealing with this beautiful baby who needed an awful lot of care, attention and physiotherapy. You could lift the phone and ring them at any time and I genuinely mean that. We were just parents completely thrown into this world of a disease that we didn’t even know the name of.”

For Fánchea, the pantomime showed that, almost 15 years after Emma’s death, Carrickmacross still remembers her: “If you met her, you wouldn’t forget her. She had that type of personality. For us, her family, who miss her desperately every day, it showed us that nobody has forgotten. People go on with their own lives, but they don’t forget. The money that went to Dublin is going to help children and young people with Cystic Fibrosis in this country and I hope it does a lot of good for people who really need it.”