Bittersweet day for Carol as late sister’s son weds
Timeless Liverpool FC phenomenon — and latter day wearer of a moustache that defied the ages — Ian Rush and his Irish partner Carol Anthony flew into Dublin last Thursday.
It was a bittersweet occasion: the wedding of Carol’s nephew Mark to Sarah at the swish Moyvalley Hotel in Kildare.
Mark’s mother — and Carol’s sister — Audrey died of cancer aged 49 on January 23, 2016.
“Mark is an only child. He is like a brother to me. Ian took him to a Liverpool match for his stag,” Corkonian Carol said, adding that on Thursday her parents Leo and Catherine “took the place of my late sister at the top table.
“It was a very emotional day for my mother and for all of us. Everyone who knew Audrey knew she lived for Mark alone”.
As the famous anthem sung at the home of Liverpool Football Club Anfield goes: ‘You’ll never walk alone.’
Ian and Carol, who fly back to their home in England tomorrow after a couple of postwedding nights at the Westbury hotel, had been over in Ireland last weekend too.
“We travelled over for Shabra Charity annual gala eventing at Leopardstown Races,” Carol told me, “to raise money for the new unit at the Mater Hospital. We’ve raised €1.2m as of last week.
“Ian is a tireless patron of Shabra, which merged with the Ian Rush Foundation last year.”
They were joined at the races by Rita Shah — owner of the Moyvalley Hotel — and Simon Le Bon joined Carol and Ian. The Duran Duran pop star had been in House on Leeson Street the night before.