'I promised her I would fight ‘til the day I die': Limerick man's 25 year battle to validate marriage

EAMON and Marie O’Keeffe got married in room number 4 in ward 3c in the former Limerick Regional Hospital in April of 1999 but the State has never recognised the validity of the marriage

Six days later Marie, from Athea, (pictured below) sadly passed away.  

Eamon has spent the last quarter of a century trying to get their hospital wedding officially accepted by the State.

The couple, who had met four years earlier at the grotto in Lourdes in 1995, were due to wed in September 1999.

Eamon, aged in his 70s, from Ballysteen, Askeaton, said Marie went into hospital in April 1999 and her condition wasn’t improving. 

“Her mother suggested that you could get married in the hospital bed and our wishes came through. I have beautiful photographs from the wedding,” said Eamon. 

The heartbreaking story graced the front page of that week’s Limerick Leader.

The ceremony was performed by Fr Phonsie Cullinan, then the hospital chaplain and now  Bishop of Waterford and Lismore. In the eyes of the Catholic Church Eamon and Marie were man and wife. 

However, when Eamon collected Marie’s death certificate, he was “deeply upset” to see that she had been listed as a “spinster”. 

“It was an awful thing to do,” said Eamon. 

He says the reason given to him was because not enough notice was provided of their wedding. 

“We failed to give them three months' notice. We gave them three hours notice because the wedding was on that morning.

“Marie couldn’t wait three months. We knew she wasn’t going to make it until September. She didn’t even last a week,” he said.

Eamon has been striving for the last 25 years to get the State to accept the validity of their marriage.

“I promised her I would fight ‘til the day I die. The saddest part is our parents, aunts and uncles all passed away so they never saw us properly married,” he said.

READ MORE: Limerick couple renew weddings vows days before husband's passing

Eamon wrote to a succession of ministers for Justice, the last being Frances Fitzgerald.

“If you saw the letters I have back from them - all I got is hundreds of hundreds of words.

“I’m finished writing to them. I made no headway at all in this country. It was a waste of time. They upset me so much  my health went all against me,” said Eamon, who thinks the only way he can get the marriage recognised is in Brussels and hopes that somebody will take up his cause.

The Ballysteen man says he would go to his God a happy man if he and Marie were finally officially accepted as man and wife by the State.