The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Sarah’s romantic beach proposal melts hearts across the globe
Lixnaw woman’s photo of a man proposing to his sweetheart on Banna Strand sparks incredible level of interest worldwide
A CENTURY after Roger Casement staggered onto Banna Strand and the stunning Kerry beach is back at the centre of world attention, but for a vastly happier reason this time.
Banna is centre stage again thanks to the quick-snapping skills of Lixnaw woman Sarah Linehan, who captured a shot of a man mid-proposal to his sweetheart that unleashed a global media storm.
Little did Sarah realise posting the image onto her Facebook page how much of a chord it would strike. Since then, she has been contacted by major US news networks, UK newspapers and was interviewed on the Ray D’Arcy Show at home.
Our post sharing the image on Facebook last week reached an incredible 575,000 shares alone in a dramatic example of how people ‘engaged’ with the romantic shot.
Sarah, who is nursing in Abu Dhabi, took the shot while walking on Banna with friends last week during a visit home.
“It was just a chance shot! After I’d taken it, I was saying to my friend that I should go over and give them the photo, but you know, they were sort of having a moment obviously so I said I wouldn’t bother,” Sarahtold The Kerryman.
“It was only after I got home that I realised that it was a really nice picture, so I thought I’d just put it up online and see what happened,” she said.
Soon after posting, the picture began gathering a huge amount of attention; being shared thousands of times across Facebook and piquing the interest of the national and international media.
“The Ray D’Arcy show rang and asked me all about it on the show,” she said.
“I got an email from a ABC News in New York who asked me a few questions about it, got my details, and whether they could put it up on their website or not,” she continued.
“The Tribune from the UK and the Examiner got in touch with me and all of my friends living in Abu Dhabi as well so it really did go far and wide,” she added.
Sarah is in no doubt as to why it generated so much interest: “I’d no idea that it would go as crazy as it did, but I think it was that everyone likes a good news story; there’s so much sad news out there at the moment that when there’s a nice story like this, everyone wants to be a part of it.
“Even the guy in the photo who proposed mailed me and he said he couldn’t believe how much reaction the photo had gotten.
“It was my only goal, to get the photo to them and the reaction was just something else; at least I can always say that I went ‘viral’ once in my life,” she finished with a laugh.