Mary Gough was an Irish native of Stamullen, County Meath.
According to her brother Barry, she was raised in a family of five males and rapidly had to learn how to “stand up for herself.”
Sinéad Byrne, a close friend of Mary’s, characterized her as “happy” and “jolly,” as well as “quite quiet, reserved, and relaxed.”
Mary had only one significant other in her lifetime.
This Colin Whelan, a computer analyst from North County Dublin, was for Mary.
The Huntsman Inn, where Mary was employed at the time, is where the pair had their first encounter.
They “hit a difficult patch” and split up in 1995, but they quickly resumed their romance.
Whelan bought a home in Clonard Street, Balbriggan, from a cousin two years later, in 1997.
