“I had no planning done for it so that’s where the Haribo ring had to come into play, I had nothing else to use!"

An Ironman competitor from Boardsmill near Trim who took part in a 3.86km swim, a 180km cycle and 10km marathon emerged as the sweetest groom to be when he topped it all off with a romantic proposal to his girlfriend at the finish line…with a Haribo shaped ring!

On June 21st Eoin Corrigan (32) took part in the gruelling physical challenge for a duration of 12 hours and 57 minutes in Boardsmill near Trim.

But his knees really went weak at the very end, when the 32-year-old popped the question to his girlfriend of three years Roisin Mooney (33) in front of emotional family and friends who had gathered to cheer on the athlete.

Amorous Eoin admits asking his girlfriend for her hand in marriage was a ‘spur of the moment decision’ and had to improvise with the jelly made gesture that was among his nutritional snacks at the finish line.

Bride to be Roisin is now even planning to preserve the Haribo ring so she can ‘keep if forever.’

The Boardsmill farmer who was taught by his lifeguard fiancé to swim just two years ago had been due to take part in the Iron Man Cork competition but as it was cancelled Eoin decided to go ahead with his own version of the event.

Commenting on the whirlwind couple of weeks, Eoin said:

“We both knew there was a proposal somewhere in the pipeline but next year was more kind of in my mind.

“The thought occurred to me a couple of weeks ago to do it after the Iron man challenge so I wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate then when I was doing the last lap it just seemed to make sense, it felt right and I just kind of went with it.

“I had no planning done for it so that’s where the Haribo ring had to come into play, I had nothing else to use!

“There was a table at the finish line where the nutrition was and I literally crossed the finish line, stumbled over to the table, searched the bag of jellies, picked out the ring and grabbed a hold of Ro.

“I can’t even remember the words I said but I somehow got across the meaning anyway and thankfully she said yes!

“I think I surprised myself as much as I surprised everyone else.

"I couldn't get back on my feet after though, I needed a bit of help.

“Hands down what made the whole event was the turn out from friends, family, members of the gym and the club, it just blew me away.

“Ro and her family were just amazing, they decorated the place and built an archway with balloons, flags and banners.

“It was all unplanned but If you had tried to script it it couldn’t have went any better. “

With all events cancelled, the determined sportsman was not going to let his five months of training go to waste as he explains:

“In January I signed up to do Iron Man Ireland Cork and I put a training programme together with my coach Ciaran Clusker in Fundamental Body in Trim.

“I had been training about 20 hours a week for five months.

“The event was then cancelled with coronavirus but I decided to do my own one.

“We have an old pond quarry on our land here at the farm and it worked out if I did 16 laps of that, it would cover the 3.8km swim, it was 18 laps on the bike and a 10km run.

“Hands down what made the whole event was the turn out from friends, family, members of the gym and the club, it just blew me away.”

Eoin even has trained lifeguard fiancé Roisin to thank for enabling him to swim the gruelling 4km during the challenge.

“I was a terrible swimmer before I met Roisin, I wouldn’t have even been able to do a length of the pool and a couple of years ago I said I was doing a triathlon could she teach me to swim, she has taught hundreds of kids but still said I was her most difficult student!”

Biology and chemistry teacher in Hartstown Community School, Roisin says she was ‘in complete shock’ when Eoin got down on one knee.

“I hadn’t a clue, he took my hand and I thought he was just going to thank me for the support, then he dropped to one knee and I was like oh my god.

“By the end of it he had everyone balling crying, it was a lovely gesture and one hundred per cent was not expecting it at all.

“It was like a fairytale, I finally have my happy ever after and my prince charming as cheesy as that may sound.

“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind, I was saying yes half way before he was through his little speech.”

Roisin has since swapped her Haribo ring for the real deal but says she will ‘keep it forever.’

"I'm planning on preserving it and maybe even framing it as a reminder of the special day."