Tragic GAA player '˜a beautiful person inside and out'

Pearce Branagan, a 23-year-old hurler with Clonduff GAC who worked as a teacher at St Malachy’s Primary School in Kilcoo, passed away from what his club said was a “cardiac seizure” on Saturday evening.

A fundraising web page has been set up in his memory, to raise money for the Northern Ireland Children’s Heartbeat Trust.

His girlfriend, Ellen McCrilly, in a heart-wrenching post on social media website Facebook alongside a link to the fundraising page, said Mr Branagan had refused to allow the heart defect he was born with to “define” him.

“Pearce was born with a heart defect but he didn’t want that to define who he was as a person,” she wrote.

“From running the Belfast City Marathon to playing for his beloved Clonduff, he was determined to not let it control his life.

“I’m so grateful that I got to spend four amazing years with Pearce, for all the things we did together and trips we went on.

“He was my soul mate and best friend all in one.”

She added: “He was the type of person that could walk into the room and light it up with his big smile and his stories – such a beautiful person inside and out.

“We loved each other to bits. Pearce was an amazing teacher, who in his first year of teaching made a big impact on so many. It breaks my heart that his time was cut so short, that we will never get a chance to properly live together, get married or see what the future held for us.”

Clonduff GAC announced they were opening a book of condolences at the clubrooms and encouraged all members of the community to sign.

A spokesperson for the club said: “He had just begun his teaching career in nearby St Malachy’s PS Kilcoo. Pearce is the second son of Tony and Terri, younger brother of Padraig and older brother of Lorcan and Caitlin.

“To them, his girlfriend Ellen McCrilly (Moy), a wide family circle and his team mates and his pupils in St Malachy’s we tender our deepest sympathy.”