By David Raleigh
A young couple took the train to their wedding today six years after falling for one another on one of Iarnroid Eireann’s Dublin to Limerick services.
A love train pulled into Colbert Rail Station, Limerick, especially to meet the happy couple, Rachel Finucane and Dermot Comerford, as they stopped off on their way to their wedding ceremony at the Castleoaks Hotel, in Co Limerick.
Despite the obvious nerves of the day, it all went without a hitch!
Ms Finucane, a former journalist, working in public relations, said: “We met on the train in April 2012 when we just happened to be sitting beside each other on the train.”
“I had booked my seat online and when I arrived on board, there was this Clare man sitting in the aisle seat. He turned and said ‘well Rachael how's a goin’, like he had known me all my life,” said the Limerick native.
“He knew my name because my name was up in lights overhead. So we had a bit of a laugh about that.”
Dermot was instantly smitten, Rachel said:
[quote]“When we arrived into Limerick Junction, he offered to carry my bags. He came with me and sat back down beside me.”[/quote]
After the pair said their goodbyes at Limerick Railway Station, as Dermot continued on to Ennis, he eventually decided to message her on Facebook to hook up.
Rachel joked: “I had a good feeling about him. I didn't think he was the axe murder type.”
[quote]“At least we didn’t pass one another like trains in the night.”[/quote]
The pair eventually met for drinks and a gig at former well known music haunt Bourke’s Bar, Catherine Street, Limerick.
“The rest as they say is history,” added Rachel, from Limerick city, who now works alongside her Doonbeg native husband at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.
The pair exchanged “I DO’s” in an intimate ceremony at the college chapel, before they made a quick dash to the train station for a photo shoot on a special love train.
Arriving on the platform, Rachael and Dermot were met by Iarnrod Eireann officials and greeted with red heart-shaped balloons in front of a personalised message on the station’s arrivals board marking their big day.
"Irish Rail should do speed dating,' joked Rachel.
Having celebrated their nuptials where it all began, they departed together for a life of wedded bliss.
