Eileen Loughlin, a content creator and primary school teacher, recalled the pain and grief of losing her daughter Annabel and shared the importance of keeping her memory alive
Eileen and Annabel
A Westmeath influencer has recalled the tragic loss of her three-year-old daughter – and how she and her family honour her memory.
Eileen Loughlin and her husband, former Westmeath hurler Enda Loughlin, saw their lives turn upside down in 2018 when their little girl Annabel tragically died.
An accident at home left Annabel with severe trauma to the head, which she sadly did not survive.
The morning Annabel died was an “utterly ordinary” day during a midterm break, with plans for the family to go to the cinema.
But tragedy struck the family home following an accident and Annabel was airlifted to Temple Street, where a team of doctors rushed to save her.
Eileen was by her daughter’s side the whole time, singing to her and holding her until she died.
“It was the Friday of mid-term break… the accident happened near enough 10am, and at 3 that afternoon we were told to say goodbye to her,” Eileen said on the Parting Words podcast.
“I really felt like her spirit left her body… Annabel is gone. But her spirit is still here with us.”
The days that followed were surreal, Eileen said, as she navigated the numbness and physical pain of grief with the administrative tasks she had to carry out as Annabel’s mum.
She described the extraordinary support that surrounded their family when they brought Annabel home to lay in her own bed.
Eileen said: “It was the real Irish wake… there was someone with Annabel 24/7. The community rallied. Food arrived at the door. Things happened that we will never even know about.”
Eileen and Enda are also parents to son TJ and Senan, as well as youngest daughter Isla, who was born after Annabel passed.
Annabel remains a daily presence in their home, but the mum acknowledges that grief cannot be fixed, only lived with.
She said: “Her room is still there, every morning I turn on her lamp and say good morning. Isla follows behind me and says, ‘Bye Annabel’. It is just the norm to her.
“You learn to live with it, but there’s no fixing anything.”
Eileen credits her husband Enda, her family, her community, and the bereavement team at Temple Street for helping them survive the early months.
She also speaks about the comfort of routine, the grounding force of sport for her boys, and the healing power of honouring Annabel’s memory.
The mum added: “It gave us something to focus on… something we could all do together in her name.”
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