‘I thought I’d be able to touch her, to hug her’: Irish Olympian describes ‘bitter sweet’ meeting with long-lost family

A former Irish Olympian has described meeting his long-lost sister after 50 years as “bitter sweet” as she informed him that his mother had died before he was able to find her.

Shane Healy (54), from Ravensdale, Co Louth, represented Ireland at the 1996 Olympics and has broken Irish and World Masters records since. The middle-distance runner often used his media appearances to try to trace his mother Maureen (née Kelly) and sister Lorraine, who disappeared from his life when he was only four.

“There was a huge row in the house and mum was heading for the door when my sister Lorraine woke up and came down the stairs,” he said. “She grabbed Lorraine, who was seven-years-old, and left and I’d never seen or heard from them since that night in 1973. Incredibly, it will be 50 years ago this month.”

Healy was placed in the infamous Goldenbridge Orphanage in Dublin for nearly three years while his father went to England to find work. “It was tough. You learned to stick up for yourself fast,” he said of life in the institution.

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He faced further tragedy while in Goldenbridge when his aunt Noreen, who he said was like a “substitute mum”, died suddenly.

“My aunt Noreen used to bring me out every second weekend with her fiance Stan and I used to look forward to those trips,” he said. “One weekend I was waiting at the orphanage but she never came to collect me. I was about seven-years-old at the time. I found out that while showering she got a brain haemorrhage and died at 37-years-old.”

Over the years, Healy made numerous media appeals as he tried to track down his mother and sister but had no joy. “None of my relatives ever heard from either of them.”

However, three weeks ago Healy received a text message as he was about to lay down following a tough training session. The message said: ‘Hi Uncle Shane. It’s Jonathan, your nephew here. I believe you are looking for your sister Lorraine. She is my mother.’

Healy had years earlier received a gift of a DNA set from his cousin, Marina Lannon. A few notifications popped up about distant relatives, but not the matches he was looking for. “When Jonathan’s DNA matched mine on myheritage.com site, he googled me and found the story about my mum and sister, his mother Lorraine,” Healy said.

“Lorraine and my mum had moved to Chester. Lorraine was only seven when she left, so when we chatted on the phone she kept asking me did I still like jam sandwiches because I used to be mad about them.”

His sister explained that their mother went on to have another relationship and he had a half-brother, Gareth.

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“She said she had asked mum about us when she was little, but was told that chapter of their lives was over,” he said.

“Unfortunately, my mum died 12 years ago from cancer, so a lot of questions will go unanswered. I’m hurt because she could’ve easily picked up the phone to call us and we could’ve been one big family, but now we have 50 years of catching up with my sister and my new family. I did find out that she had an Irish wolfhound that she named Shane.”

“Lorraine and my half-brother and nephew came to Ireland to meet us a few weeks ago. I was so nervous and yet so excited picking them up from the airport. They are my flesh and blood and yet they are complete strangers.

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Healy said he beat himself up for years wondering what might have been, but that he never gave up hope of finding his long lost relatives. “It wasn’t supposed to end like this though,” he added. “I thought I’d be able to touch her, to hug her, to have a mother and son day out. But I’m so glad that the mystery is over and we can now catch up on 50 missing years.”