The Margaret McLoughlin Fund
A Beautiful Life Remembered - Margaret McLoughlin

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In May of 2003 my family lost its youngest member, Margaret.
She was 25 years old.

It was a devastating time made easier by the extraordinary support of family and friends in Ireland, the US and beyond. Many of those who sympathised with us were from within the family of The Ireland Funds. But wherever these people came from or whatever their connection with our family, the one thing they all had in common was that, to some degree, they had been affected by Margaret during her short but fulfilled life. Indeed, our great grief and sense of loss was counterbalanced by the knowledge of the difference Margaret had made and our gratitude for her being at the centre of our family’s life.

Margaret was born with Down’s Syndrome along with a severe and complicated heart condition. The latter, in the end, curtailed her life. But the fact that she had Down’s Syndrome gave her an extraordinary capacity for happiness and ability to connect with others.

Simply put, Margaret loved life. She revelled in people’s company. She had a fantastic sense of wonder. She was full of humor. She exuded warmth and, at the same time, a sense of calm. Despite, or perhaps, because of her mental handicap she had tremendous emotional intelligence. She would immediately relate to people and put them at ease. She would disarm them and allow them to be more themselves, unburdened by suspicion or pretence.

It was simply by being herself effortlessly and by allowing the rest of us to come closer to that way of being, that Margaret had such an effect and made such a difference.

This would explain why the funeral of this little lady was attended by hundreds to the point that the church wasoverflowing. Business people, professionals, academics, homemakers and students all gathered to mark Margaret’s passing because through Margaret they felt the liberating sense of togetherness and equality. Amongst the most important mourners at Margaret’s funeral were her friends from her work shop. Like Margaret, these people with their unaffected and joyful approach help those they meet to view life from a richer perspective.

Given the extraordinary reaction to Margaret’s death we, her family, decided to establish a fund in her name. Our intention is to provide a platform to keep her memory alive and extend people’s knowledge of her now that she has gone. In a tangible way our aim is to support projects designed to break down the prejudices that some people like Margaret can face and to help them achieve their full potential.

From the start The Ireland Funds have been so supportive. We received a wonderfully generous gift from Jerry and Karen Callaghan and, subsequently, many other Funds’ donors have lent their support.

The Margaret McLoughlin Fund is now a Donor Advised Fund within The American Ireland Fund. This mechanism is a great help to our family in that all the administrative issues are undertaken on our behalf. The Ireland Funds vets projects for us and provides tax receipts, where applicable, to donors.

We have made a number of grants to Margaret’s workshop. She flourished there especially in her art class known as The Artisans. It has given us enormous satisfaction to enable The Artisans to stage exhibitions of their work and, in so doing, raise extra monies for their activities.

Our goal at the moment is to at least double the size of the Fund. This will guarantee the Fund’s future and allow us to support bigger and bigger projects. In taking this approach, we were inspired by The Ireland Funds’ own campaign to increase its endowment.

Why am I writing this article? Firstly, to say thank you to the Funds and its donors for all their great support and guidance. But primarily it is to reflect again upon little Margaret and how special she was. The phrase that best expresses the reality of Margaret for me is “unquenchable spirit”. She was possessed of such spirit. In fact, she was such a spirit. I feel that we all have a lot to learn from such special people. Margaret lives on at the heart of our family and always will.

— Joan McLoughlin, Margaret’s mother

Kieran McLoughlin, Margaret's brother, is President of The American Ireland Fund