By Louise Roseingrave

A young bride who got married while terminally ill died six months later, an inquest heard.

Christine Gibbons (39), from Gardiner Street in Dublin, died at the Mater Hospital on August 24, 2015. She had married her fiance of 17 years only months earlier.

The pair tied the knot in a romantic ceremony at St Frances Xavier Church on Gardiner Street on February 26 last year.

Ms Gibson, who developed a rapid growth tumour in her liver, was taken off the transplant list because the cancer was so aggressive.

She died of liver cancer complicated by cirrhosis of the liver due to Hepatitis C which she acquired in her early twenties as a result of drug use.

Dublin Coroner’s Court heard that she used drugs for a short period in her early twenties but had beaten her addiction and had been clean ever since.

“It’s a whole sequence of events, a lifestyle problem going back to when she was very young. It’s very sad,” Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said.

Family members said she had stopped using drugs 18 years ago and had Hepatitis C for a long time before she realised. She married Vincent Callaghan (then 43) after being told of her terminal diagnosis in a ceremony organised by a group of local community representatives who wanted to make her dream come true.

“I’ve always wanted to get married since I was younger. After 20 years together it’s about time,” she said after the ceremony.

“I wouldn’t care if I was getting married in a barn.”

The dresses and suits, hair and make-up, horse and carriage, rings, cake, photographer, DJ and decorations were donated to the couple free of charge.

Then Dublin Lord Mayor Christy Burke offered the couple the use of the Mansion House for a drinks reception and first dance, and around 80 guests had a reception at their local pub afterwards.

The couple met 20 years previously after being introduced by Christine’s younger brother and Vincent proposed on her 21st birthday.

Her parents and brother in-law attended yesterday’s inquest at Dublin Coroner’s Court. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

IMAGE: Christine and Vincent Callaghan pictured on their wedding day

For more on this story go to: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/tragic-christine-39-died-six-months-after-her-wedding-day-34524710.html