Kildare woman gets the chop for charity

A YOUNG Newbridge woman has given up something she’s been growing since she was seven years old in aid of charity, and no, it’s not a bonsai tree.

Instead Caoimhe Gateley (23) a singing teacher from Pairc Mhuire has cut an astounding 25” (63.5cms) of her hair to donate to LauraLynn’s ‘Locks of Love’, a charity that makes real hair wigs for kids who’ve lost theirs from cancer.

“I don’t know how I heard about it, but I remember having the thought at my First Communion to grow my hair out for boys and girls who couldn’t,” said Caoimhe.

“I kept putting it off for years because it takes a bit of courage, but not nearly as much as what they are going through,” she said quietly.

The 23-year-old is currently a singing teacher at the Stage Academy in the Patrician Primary, having recently completed a Music Performance degree at the BIMM Music Institute in Dublin.

Caoimhe hopes to finish out her education this year with a MA in Primary Education at DCU “or whoever will take me!”. 

Caoimhe has been teaching singing at the Patrician Primary “for six years or seven years, I’ve lost track now”, and is an aspiring musician “hoping to release my own stuff soon”. 

Caoimhe continued: “I’ve played piano and guitar since I was six or seven, and have always been interested in music,” said the former St Conleth’s girl.

“I joined the stage school when I was four, but my mam (Claire Regen) was involved with Newbridge Panto, and the local musical societies,” she said of her introduction to the discipline.

“I was in the Covid year, so I never got to sit my Leaving – we got the predicted grades made up from the mocks and work throughout the year,” she said.

As regards how she discovered LauraLynn, unlike her keyboard, Caoimhe can’t quite put her finger on it.

“I must’ve seen it somewhere, I just can’t remember.

"But now I’ve known a few people who’ve gone through it and I’ve seen their courage, so if I can help just one person,” she said. 

“You’ll see in the photograph our measuring tape was only 25” long, so if the hair was any longer we would have run out of measuring tape!” she laughed.

“I knew it was long, because for as long as I can remember, I could sit on my hair! 

"Oh, but management of it is so much easier now!” 

So far, Caoimhe has raised in excess of €1,300 with her online petition for LauraLynn.

She also has a donation box on the counter in the Moorefield Spar where she also works.

“I think we’ll leave the donations open for another week, because quite a few people still want to donate.

"It’d be great to be able to give a lot of money to the charity," she concluded.

The donation link is https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/CaoimheGately