DANIEL O’Donnell and his bride-to-be were given an extra
special blessing for their wedding tomorrow – from Majella’s first
husband.
And Raymond McLennan, 41, revealed it was he and not Majella who
had their 13-year marriage annulled.
It means Majella will be able to walk down the aisle of
Kincasslagh’s Catholic chapel tomorrow and wed Daniel before God.
Father-of-two Raymond, who lives in Edinburgh, said yesterday that
he offered his “very best wishes” to his ex-wife and her new
husband and added: “I wish them both many years of happiness
together.
“There is no bitterness between us at all. We have both moved
on and we are in regular contact with Majella. I am happy for her.”
Celebrations begin tonight when coach-loads of Daniel
O’Donnell devotees, from England, Scotland and Ireland, will pack
his home town for the party of a lifetime.
At the age of 40, Ireland’s favourite bachelor boy will bid
farewell to his single status tomorrow afternoon.
Yesterday, delighted neigh- bours hung bunting and balloons in his
native Kincasslagh and his legion of friends and fans will tonight raise
a glass or two to the star and wish him all the luck in the world.
The Viking Hotel, which the singer used to own, will be packed to
bursting with female fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their hero on his
big day.
The pre-wedding bash will be a night to remember and, the gossip
is, the man himself will make a brief appearance.
Leaving things to the last minute, Daniel arrived in Donegal on
Friday afternoon – just a few hours after his bride-to-be – to prepare
for his most important public appearance ever.
According to whispers, the groom will be wearing navy and white and
the bride an ivory-coloured silk dress.
And Majella, 41, will be carry-ing a unique lucky charm when she
walks into church – a Daniel O’Donnell horse shoe.
It’s a lucky shoe once worn by the horse named after the
international superstar.
Breeder Luke McGarrigle, 51, said he hopes the shoe will bring the
couple the best of luck.
Thursday night’s concert at Norwich’s Theatre Royal was
the last in the latest hectic schedule for the country singer and his
last as a single man.
He spent the weekend relaxing in his new home in Cruit Island,
where the couple plan to live after they are married.
A close friend said: “Daniel has been very, very busy in the
last few weeks and he came home to Donegal on Friday to unwind a bit
before his big day.”
At the Kincasslagh home she’s shared off and on with her
beloved son for 40 years, Daniel’s mum Julia was resting before the
wedding.
“I’m under doctor’s orders to keep my feet up for
the next few days and take it easy,” she said.
Long-term fan and friend Maire Rua Gallagher summed up the feelings
of most Daniel devotees when she confessed to being “truly happy
but also a bit sad” at the impending nuptials.
Maire, 70, who first heard Daniel sing when he was just 17, said:
“When I met Majella first I really like her and I am so happy for
them both.
“At the same time, I am so sorry to be losing Daniel. I always
thought I owned Daniel.
“I didn’t have a notion for him, of course, because
I’m much older, but at all his shows I hung onto his arm afterwards
and claimed him,” she laughed.
“Now Majella has him and I think I’ll miss him. Daniel
says nothing will change but of course it will.”
Maire, from Bunbeg, Co Donegal, has been to every Daniel
O’Donnell concert he’s ever done in Ireland and Scotland and
has become his friend down the years.
They chat together in their native gaelic and the language is a
bond between them.
Maire, who is invited to the wedding, said the nuptials are
“causing a big buzz in Donegal”.
“I just can’t wait. It’s a huge day, really.
Everyone keeps asking me what the bride and groom will be wearing.
Everyone is talking about the wedding,” she said.
Another old friend, Eileen Ogilsby, who used to work with Daniel in
his Romanian orphans charity, yesterday wished the singer “every
happiness.”
“I am really looking forward to the wedding. Everyone is
delighted for Daniel and we all wish him the best. He and Majella seem
very happy and long may it continue.”
In nearby Bonner’s pub in Mullaghduff, Joe Bonner and Pat
Duffy drank a toast to their famous neighbour and wished him all the
best.
About 500 guests will pack St Mary’s Church where Fr Brian
D’Arcy, a long-time friend of Daniel’s, will officiate with
local priest Fr Pat Ward.
The church sits just off the beach and the couple are sure to use
the stunning coastline for someINVITEMaire Rua’s ‘happy
and a bit sad’ beautiful wedding photographs.
On Friday, Fr Ward said: “I’ll just be glad when its all
over.”
After the ceremony, the guests will make their way to the Holiday
Inn in Letterkenny for a bash rumoured to cost the couple e300-a-head.
The venue was closed to the public from yesterday and a security
team have been hired to ensure no fans gate-crash the big day.
Daniel said: “It’s not that I do not want the fans to
know anything; if that was the case we would have gone away and got
married quietly.
“We need some sort of order on the day and a code of operation
for everything to run smoothly.”
The couple will then head straight for the US where Daniel begins a
series of concerts in Branson, Missouri, on November 11.
They plan to live on Cruit Island in Donegal, where Daniel bought a
house last year – but it might not be just the two of them there.
Daniel revealed they would love to start a family, adding: “If
God is good then maybe that will happen.”
Majella and Daniel met while he was holidaying in Tenerife in 1999.
She had gone there to work in her parents’ pub after the
breakup of her first marriage.
Raymond McLennan and Majella Roche were married in Glasgow in 1986,
separated in 1999 and divorced in 2000. Their marriage was annulled this
year and yesterday Raymond explained: “It was I who applied for the
annulment but I’d rather not disclose my reasons.”
Asked if he was upset that the Catholic Church had now decided that
his marriage never existed he said: “No. It was me who applied for
the annulment some time ago and I am very comfortable with that
decision.”
Raymond, who revealed he was in a “steady relationship for
many years now”, said he was not surprised at how quickly the
annulment was granted.
“My family lawyers in Edinburgh advised me that the timescale
was quite normal.”
The McLennan children, Michael, 12, and Siobhan, 15, travelled to
Ireland on Friday for their mum’s celebrity wedding.
CAPTION(S):
EX-HUBBY; Raymond McLennan wed Majella in 1986; SO SPECIAL; 500
guests are expected to pack St Mary’s Church, above, nestled
against the sea in Kincasslagh, below; CHARMED; Majella will carry a
unique lucky charm when the couple tie the knot tomorrow in
Daniel’s home town of Kincasslagh – a horse shoe named after the
singer; SUITE DREAMS; Bridal suite at Holiday Inn – if they fancy…
The post GOOD LUCK ON THE BIG DAY DANIEL; Ex-hubby gives blessing as Ireland's favourite son gets set to marry Majella. appeared first on Inway Shoes.
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