Fundraiser set up for family forced to evacuate due to Lough Funshinagh flooding

An online fundraiser has been set up in support of a mother and her three children who were forced to move out of their home due to the current record level of flooding at Lough Funshinagh in South Roscommon.

Late last week, a sharp rise in the level of the floodwater meant Ellie McLaughlin had to leave her home in Lysterfield, Curraghboy, along with her children aged 8, 11, and 13.

"It's devastating. I spent all day (Monday) crying. I just couldn't stop crying all day," Ellie told the Westmeath Independent this week.

"It's hard to put into words the impact this has had on me and my children. It's life-changing, but not in a good way, unfortunately."

She said her home was now "sitting on a lake" and is very difficult to reach, but that Roscommon County Council staff had been doing Trojan work in trying to keep the water out.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Ellie's brother Barry McLaughlin set up a GoFundMe appeal, entitled 'Help Ellie and her 3 kids after devastating flood', and at the time of writing it had already raised just under €5,000 from 81 individual donations.

"Last Friday my sister Ellie and her beautiful children had to be evacuated from their home due to a devastating flood," wrote Barry on the GoFundMe page.

"They have no idea when or if ever they will be able to return to their home.

"Ellie has spent all of her working life helping others. She worked and saved for years to buy and renovate her precious cottage, only to watch her home become uninhabitable due to this flood. This has absolutely broken her heart, and that of her children.

"We have retrieved some of her belongings but had to leave a lot behind as it was unsafe to continue to enter the house .

"Any help would be greatly appreciated to help Ellie and her children get back on their feet," he added.

You can support the GoFundMe appeal here.

* For more on the flooding crisis at Lough Funshinagh, see today's Westmeath Independent.