Radiographer to 'celebrate life' of late grandad with marathon run

RADIOGRAPHER Charlotte Phelan will take to the streets of Dublin later this month to run a marathon in honour of her late grandad.

Set to partake in the Irish Life Dublin Marathon on October 25, she will be running in memory of her beloved grandfather. A proud Limerick man from Ballinacurra, the late Cormac Liddy made his home in Kinvara, County Galway after retiring.

A renowned and popular former sports editor of the Limerick Leader, Cormac loved both his family and sport throughout his life. This will be Charlotte’s fourth marathon and her second Dublin Marathon.

This year’s race will be particularly poignant, taking place just 11 days after the first anniversary of her grandad Cormac’s death on October 14, 2025.

Using the marathon to raise funds for the Irish Kidney Association – an organisation that advocates and supports patients with kidney disease and their families – Charlotte chose the charity as her grandad, Cormac, was undergoing dialysis treatment.

The renowned Irish journalist spent forty-one years with the Limerick Leader, including the latter 21 years as its sports editor. After retiring from the role in 2002, he continued to work on a freelance basis for national newspapers and RTÉ, as well as contributing to the Limerick Leader.

For Charlotte, however, Cormac was more than a renowned sports journalist. He was her beloved grandad, affectionately known in their family as “Pops”, and a key person in her life with whom she shared a unique and exceptionally close bond.

His connection with both Limerick and Galway became particularly important during his years of dialysis. He first began haemodialysis treatment three times a week at University Hospital Limerick in 2020, under the care of Professor Austin Stack.

After moving permanently to Kinvara, his dialysis care continued in Limerick for a while before he was transferred to Merlin Park University Hospital in Galway, where he continued treatment three times a week under the care of Professor Donal Reddan.

“He rarely let his dialysis define him. He put up with his treatment as it was keeping him alive and he continued to love life. His family remained at the centre of everything. Even when his health was declining, he stayed tuned into the people and things he loved most – his wife and family, sport and what was going on in the world around him,” Charlotte recalled.

Throughout those years, Charlotte remained exceptionally close to her grandad. Even when she worked as a radiographer in St James’s Hospital in Dublin, Charlotte and Cormac stayed connected every day.

Their daily contact continued when Charlotte eventually moved to Galway herself and began working with Alliance Medical as a radiographer at Merlin Park in March 2025.

“I was working in Merlin Park myself, so I could go down and see Pops while he was having dialysis treatment,” Charlotte said.

“I would always make sure he had his newspapers. When I visited him, he’d always greet me with a smile and say, ‘Hello, my dearest darling’.”

Cormac died suddenly on October 14 last year, leaving a huge loss for Charlotte, his wife Lily, and the wider family.

Charlotte sees the marathon as an opportunity to give something back to the organisation that supports patients like her grandad and their families through some of the most difficult years of life.

“I’ll be running this marathon with Pops in my heart. It’s one year on, and I wanted to do something to honour his memory and celebrate his life while also helping other people with kidney disease,” concluded Charlotte.

Donations can be made online at https://eventmaster.ie/fundraising/pages/CP16536294 to support the IKA and Charlotte’s marathon endeavour.