ROMANCE was very much in the air at this year’s Mary from Dungloe Festival.
For Sligo native, Shauna Keane from west Sligo, the night will long live in the memory as her finance Joe O’Donnell chose the closing of the festival as the right stage for him to ask Shauna to marry him.
Speaking to the Sligo Weekender after the event, Shauna spoke of her shock and delight.
“I think the crowd could see that it was a massive shock to me. I was not expecting it, but it made my night. It was a shock,” Shauna said.
For the couple, the festival, held in the Co. Donegal town, has a special place in their hearts. Joe had worked at the festival in marketing and has been a regular at the festival down through the years.
“For him, I think it really was significant to get down on one knee while we were down there. It will be a festival that we will definitely be going back to each year!”
Shauna was completely oblivious to Joe’s intention, however, looking back she did notice a few things that were not as they seemed in the week building up to the festival.
“Maybe there was a few things that was said during the week, where I maybe thought that something was going to happen but I didn’t expect him to get down on one knee the way he did or have all my family from Sligo there. He went all out and outdone himself,” Shauna said.
Shauna says that the couple are in ‘no panic’ to set a date and will take their time to enjoy the engagement.
On hand in the early moments of their engagement was none other than singer Daniel O’Donnell, a long time friend of Joe’s.
“It really meant a lot. Joe would go back with Daniel for years. They used to sing together and he was on tour with Daniel. On the night Daniel had heard that their was going to be a proposal and when everyone in the room was getting ready he cut someone off, he wanted to be there to see it happen. It meant a lot that he was one of the first people up to congratulate us and pose for a picture,” Shauna said.
