Shannon and Simon met at NUI Maynooth in the fall of 2007 while Shannon was on a gap semester between high school and college. Shortly after arriving in Maynooth, Shannon decided to go to the Student Union (SU) to ask if someone could help her find a violin to rent in the local area.
After speaking to the SU President, Shannon was sent to Simon, the Cultural Affairs Officer who just so happened to be in the office at the time. Simon with his cool guy spiky hair, skater shoes and wide jeans and Shannon with her puffy vest and Uggs hit it off immediately. Simon emailed around to see if he could find any violins but Shannon never heard back and found a violin on her own. Their friendship was only getting started though as they both happened to show up at Maynooth Gospel Choir practice two weeks later (something Simon is still convinced to this day was planned).
A friendship took hold that involved plenty of slagging, Facebook abuse, and good old fashioned hair-pulling (and that's just what Simon did) until 2011, when they both realised they had feelings for each other while on a night out. From then on, it was two and a half years of long distance and Simon flying so frequently on Aer Lingus that he became a Gold Circle member! After countless Skype calls and visits, Shannon moved over to Ireland so they could start the next chapter of their lives together.
After living together for about a year and a half, Simon gave Shannon the surprise of her life by proposing through a 10-clue scavenger hunt that led Shannon and visiting friend, Tessie, around Dublin and Maynooth to places such as where they went on their first date, favourite haunts, and the SU and Gospel Choir room where it all began. Along the way, friends were at each stop with the next clue claiming innocence as to why they were there. After clue 9 led Shannon to the Arts Block in Maynooth where members of the 2007 Maynooth Gospel Choir sang Sam Cooke’s “Nothing can change this love,” she was brought to Simon in the choir room where he proposed with just the two of them present….spoiler alert! She said yes and they are in the process of planning this wedding. Let's hope it comes together before you arrive!