Catriona O’Doherty, a young teacher, originally from Killarney and now living in Monaghan, is sharing her transplant story as part of Organ Donor Awareness Week (16-23 May), a journey that saw her husband step forward to donate a kidney just over 19 months after they wed.

When she received a kidney transplant on February 17th, 2025, in Beaumont Hospital, it marked a life-changing moment made possible by her donor husband, Dáire Freeman.

“It’s still hard to put into words. It was a strange feeling when the two of us were sitting together just before Dáire was wheeled down to the operating theatre, it’s obviously a very emotional and difficult time” she says.

Her story began years earlier in her native Killarney. At just 10 years old, after suffering persistent headaches, caused by high blood pressure, she was referred from University Hospital Kerry to Crumlin Children’s Hospital in Dublin, where she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease caused by reflux.

For years, her condition was managed quietly while she built her life, becoming a secondary school teacher of Geography, before getting married to Dáire in July 2023 in her native Killarney and also began building their home in Co. Monaghan.

“I would have felt tired but I just thought everyone’s tired after a day’s work.” Catriona reflects. “I didn’t realise how much my kidney disease was affecting me and how tired my body was until after the surgery.”

In 2024, her condition deteriorated rapidly, with her kidney function dropping below 10%. While dialysis was imminent, she was fortunate to receive a transplant just in time. “It really was down to the wire,” she says.

Throughout the uncertainty, her family remained central to her strength and resilience. Having lost her father at 19, she describes her mother Eleanor and two younger sisters Chloe and Ava as “amazing women and a constant support”.

At the same time, Dáire began the living donor screening process at Beaumont Hospital, a decision she admits she found “difficult to accept when it involved someone close to her.”
“You don’t want someone you love to go through that,” she says. “But he never hesitated.”7

Despite everything, and Catriona’s depleted energy and declining health, the couple continued working right up until the week before the surgery.

Following the transplant, their recovery brought them temporarily back to their roots, she returned to her mother Eleanor in Killarney to recover, while Dáire stayed in Monaghan and was cared for by his parents.

“It wasn’t easy being apart,” she says, “but we were both so well supported.” Three weeks later, they were reunited and began adjusting to life after transplant together.

In a show of both physical and emotional strength and endurance, Dáire took part in the Killarney Half Marathon in June 2024 before all his testing began, raising funds for the Irish Kidney Association.

Now, as they have passed their one-year transplant anniversary, the couple have returned to work with Daire back working since June 2025 and Catriona back teaching in Monaghan since September 2025. They have settled into their newly built home in Monaghan, a milestone achievement that feels even more meaningful after everything they have been through.

“My energy, my health, everything has changed,” Catriona says. “You don’t realise how unwell you were until you feel well again.”

Catriona in acknowledging all the support she received on her health journey, she expressed her deepest gratitude to Daire, to their families in both Kerry and Monaghan, the healthcare professionals who cared for her from childhood through to transplant. She thanked the Irish Kidney Association, in particular, Theresa Looney in the Kerry branch who was a constant support to her family.

“I’ll always be thankful for the care I received and for the support we had around us. Dr. Micheal Clarkson and Abina Harrington in CUH have been amazing to me in the weeks and months after the transplant. I couldn’t have got to this stage without them” she says.

This Organ Donor Awareness Week, she hopes her story will resonate with others to encourage them to consider organ donation and discuss it with their families. “Organ donation has changed my life completely,” she says. I feel very lucky that Dáire could be my living donor but many people in need of transplants are depending on strangers to give them a second chance.”

The Organ Donor Awareness Week (16-23 May) campaign encourages people across Ireland to have conversations about organ donation and to let their loved ones know their wishes. The campaign message is “Don’t Leave Your Loved Ones in Doubt - Share Your Wishes About Organ Donation.”

Since the introduction of Ireland’s soft opt-out system in June 2025 under the Human Tissue Act, people are presumed to have consented to organ donation unless they have registered their opt-out decision.

However, family agreement remains essential, and organ donation will not proceed without it.

This makes family conversations more important than ever. Sharing your wishes ensures that, if the situation arises, your family can support your decision, knowing and respecting your wishes.

Only around 1% of people die in circumstances where organ donation is possible, highlighting how rare and valuable each opportunity is.

To mark the Donor Week, buildings and landmarks across Ireland will be illuminated from dusk to dawn in green, the international colour of organ donation, as a visible sign of support and solidarity.

During Organ Donor Awareness Week, special commemorative events will take place. On Sunday, May 17, a special Mass for organ donation will be held at the Basilica in Knock, Co. Mayo.

The week will conclude on Saturday, May 23 with an event at the Circle of Life Commemorative Garden for organ donors in Salthill, Galway, a fitting conclusion to a week of remembrance, gratitude, and awareness.

For more information or to request an organ donor card (including in digital format), visit www.ika.ie/donorweek The campaign poster (available in English, Irish, Polish, Hindi and Yoruba) can be downloaded from the same link www.ika.ie/donorweek