Tipperary hospice hero gives his daughter best ever 21st birthday present

A Hospice hero and cancer-battling dad made his daughter's 21st birthday wishes come true when he brought her to meet Hollywood actor Domhnall Gleeson.

Anthony Bourke is known for his dedication to Roscrea Hospice, but he became a hero of his daughter Erin’s heart when he introduced her to the Hollywood star whose grandfather hailed from outside Thurles.

The Bourkes met Domhnall at the launch of the Bewley's Big Coffee Morning Social for Hospice in Dublin, and Anthony is asking members of the public and businesses to help support the event by hosting a coffee morning fundraiser.

The nationwide event, supported by Bewley’s since 1992, has raised over €43.2m - and there is a €2m fundraising target this year.

“I brought Erin up to the launch event: she’s mad about Domhnall Gleeson and couldn’t believe she got to meet him,” said Anthony.

Erin turned 21 on the launch day and Anthony said that she was so excited to take a selfie with her idol, it was a better gift than anything we could have bought her.

Anthony’s connection with his local hospice runs deep. His mother passed away at the age of 50 in 1989, while his brother died at 40 in 2003, and his nephew died at 30 in 2020.

“My mother’s death had an awful effect on me. I was 22 and turned to the drink a bit too much but stopped when I got married. I haven’t touched the stuff in 22 years,” he said.

He decided to volunteer in 2008 because of all the people dear to him who had benefitted from the service.

“I just wanted to help out and found the work very rewarding. I never thought that I would be capable of something like it but, in 2010, I was named chairperson of Roscrea Hospice,” he said, a role he was still in when he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and had to undergo surgery to remove a major tumour from his chest.

“It was a thymoma tumour, which was wrapped around my thymus gland. They had to remove that gland along with the tumour, the effect of which was that I couldn’t go back to work.

“I put more time into hospice then. I organised concerts, stationary cycles and other fundraisers,” said Anthony.

After eight years, Anthony stepped down from his position to focus on his health. Eleven years and six bouts of chemotherapy since his first diagnosis, he keeps his fitness up by walking every day.

A believer in the power of music to boost people’s mood and generosity of spirit, the guitarist and mandolin player can often be found playing for nursing home residents or fundraisers.

Funds raised locally stay local and go back into each Hospice service to innovate, build new facilities, develop new services, and deliver quality improvements and extra benefits for their patients and their family members.

Register to host a coffee morning on September 21 - or on a date that suits you – at hospicecoffeemorning.ie or call 0818-995996.

If you can not host or attend one, you can make a donation at hospicecoffeemorning.ie/donate