Ashbourne parents to open pop-up shop for pre-loved communion and confirmation outfits

A SAVVY Ashbourne mum who upcycled her wedding gown into a communion dress to hand down to her four daughters has plans together with local parents to set up a pop-up shop offering pre loved second hand communion and confirmation outfits for boys and girls at no cost.

Caoimhe Gore who saved hundreds of euro reusing her own wedding dress came up with the idea a long with other parents from St Declan's NS to ease the burden for cash-strapped parents amid the cost of living crisis.

The mother of four's stunning satin and lace full length gown bought for €1,000 in a Mullingar boutique will have well and truly earned its keep with daughters Lily (11), Ivy (8), Daisy (7) and Ebony (1), all taking turns to wear their mother's special frock.

"I bought it in 2013 the year I got married and it was always something I had liked the idea of but then when I had my third daughter I figured it would save me so much money in the long run," said Caoimhe.

"They absolutely love wearing it and it being theirs for the occasion. They even talk about when my fourth daughter will be wearing it and she's only one!

"When I was buying it, I never imagined I would be lucky to have my four daughters wearing it."

"I don't have the worry or the expense of buying a dress for each girl so I started to think of ways we could help other parents."

The initiative for the second hand communion wear started by the St Declan's NS Parent's Association has captured the imagination of the community with people coming forward with donations in their droves. As families are spending up to €1000 for the special day it will no doubt be welcome news for struggling parents.

The Ashbourne mother says the PA has been "blown away" with people's generosity so far.

"We are only up and running a few days and we have eight communion dresses, around twelve communion suits and there are shoes and bags and veils and everything, people have been so generous.

"The dresses and suits and immaculate, they are just fabulous. The amount of money some people have spent on them and have donated them it's just incredible.

It is not the first time, St Declan's has come to the rescue of families coping with the expense of schooling as Caoimhe explains:

"Before school started back we had a sort of uniform rally, people were giving us uniforms they weren't using anymore and families were able to get those through the school.

"We had thought about this idea for the communion and confirmations, and we had parents contact us with the same idea so we just decided to action it really."

“We hope to do a pop up shop locally in January where people will be able to come in and choose the outfits and give the children that special exciting retail experience."

St Declan's Parent's Association is currently looking for donations.

For more information ,find St Declan’s Parents Association on Facebook.