Kilkenny man raffles off dream home to raise funds for daughter’s battle with leukaemia: report

A Kilkenny man is raffling off his dream home in a bid to raise funds to help his daughter during her battle with leukaemia.

Mark Keoghan, who is now living and working in the UK with his family, took the difficult decision after his  seven-year-old daughter Mollie was diagnosed with the disease earlier this year.

The Kilkenny man Lucy and their sons Alfie (6), and Teddy (4), are also donating 5% of the ticket sales revenue to Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG).

In an interview with The Irish Mirror, Mark told how his life was changed forever when he heard the news that his daughter was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.

“It was on July 30,” he told the newspaper. “She had been previously complaining about having sore legs, arms, head – her body was sore from almost March. We had been to the hospital and A&E about five times in the middle of the night and as usual, when you get there, she had a miraculous recovery, so they say ‘go home and give her some Calpol.’

“Then, she might be fine for a few weeks but if we went for a family walk, Mollie would be dragging behind. The final straw was that night when we took her in at 4 am when she was up in pain.

“She didn’t improve on the drive to the hospital and when we got there, there was more and more interest shown in her and we didn’t have any idea what to expect – I thought it might be her appendix or something like that – and then two hours later, they take her upstairs for more tests and by that stage, the ward she was going onto wasn’t a sign of good news.

“We’re then invited into that little room which no parents ever want to visit where we’re told that our daughter has leukaemia.

“That’s how it all started, our life was turned upside down that day. She was taken to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham – which is the specialist children’s oncology in the area – and that’s been our life since.

“It’s drugs, hospital visits, blood transfusions – that’s where she is this morning, she can hardly walk this morning. Every month she has to have a blood transfusion because she can’t keep any chemo unless her blood is above a certain level. She had a blood transfusion this morning which she calls her ‘strawberry juice’ and then she comes home all perked up for another month. It’s just terrible to see your little daughter go through that and to see her hair fall out, to see her so frail and weak. It’s heartbreaking.”

In spite of their own devastating news, the Keoghan family are determined to help other families who find themselves in similar situations.

The raffle for their beautiful Kilkenny home went live on Friday, November 13. Since then they have sold 8,000 tickets. They hope to sell 130,000 tickets to reach their target.

The house, just eight miles from Kilkenny city,  is a beautiful four-bedroom property perched on the side of a hill with sweeping views of the surrounding countryside.

Anyone interested in taking part in the raffle can log on to to the events’ official page here. You can also find more information on Facebook (Dream House Ireland) on Instagram (windreamhouseireland)