James 'Lambo' Lambe - Memorial Scholarship Fund

“Tomorrow is a promise we cannot keep, so today, be bold and brave and live fearlessly, "  Our beloved James wrote this just months before he sadly passed away. As the first anniversary of his death approaches, we, his family and friends would like to celebrate the fact that University College Dublin (UCD) has decided to create the "James Lambe Memorial Scholarship" - honouring his memory and legacy. This fundraiser will help to generate funds to support the scholarship.  Let us tell you a little more about James 'Lambo' Lambe - the legend!

 

At the young age of thirteen, James was diagnosed with a chronic and extremely rare medical condition "Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia," Type 2B (Men 2B). James had many cancer treatments over the past ten years - they helped to keep the rampant cancer at bay for a short while. However, in January 2021 the tumours began to multiply quickly and there was no drug available to combat this. James’s health rapidly deteriorated, on the 17th of May 2021, at 15:29 at the age of 22, he died, surrounded by his loving family. Despite this life-altering illness and unforeseen death, James made the most of his time on this earth.

 

James will always be remembered as a man who genuinely cared for others. For most of his short yet remarkable life, he was in a great deal of pain. He often hid his illness and displayed outstanding bravery and resilience. Regardless of how he was feeling, James would always greet people with his warm smile and characteristic laugh. James was a truly compassionate young man, a gentle soul, his generosity of spirit exemplified by his kindness to friends. When friends came to him for advice, most of the time he would offer some ethical consideration, or words of comfort or wisdom, other times he would just listen.

 

James placed a huge emphasis on the importance of education. The purpose of education is to draw forth information. James summed this up as creativity. He believed that creativity was a key factor in ‘making the world a better place.’ His impact on the world was highlighted in an article by the Drogheda Independent titled "Lambo's fleeting yet remarkable life celebrated " which described how he lived his life with "courage, fortitude, dignity and even humour." His funeral mass was held at James' request in the church at Clongowes Wood College in Co Kildare, where he spent many happy years as an award-winning student. He was laid to rest in Drogheda, where the streets were lined with mourners from all walks of life that James' had touched; teammates at O'Raghaillagh's GFC, former classmates of Scoil Aonghusa, school friends from Clongowes, and colleagues from the Centra in Mell.

 

 

 

 

James travelled all over the world from the US to Australia, his interests were varied but he had a particular love of politics, in fact, he was actively pursuing a possible career path in the Labour Party. Labour TD Deputy Ged Nash said James "was a hero to all of us and carried his illness with real courage...that was the mark of the man; utterly selfless, with huge integrity, innate decency and a thirst for social justice...he will be missed greatly by all of us but his memory and legacy will inspire us always.'

 

James packed so much into his life. He was awarded a scholarship to Clongowes College and then went to UCD where he got his degree in Economics and Politics. By special arrangement James was awarded his hard-fought-for degree just 3 days before he died - he had been drifting in and out of consciousness, but when the framed certificate arrived, he woke briefly to say "I did it."

As James was receiving his degree President Michael D Higgins phoned to congratulate him, the President spoke to him in Irish - remarkably, given how ill he was, James answered in Irish.

 

 

 

 

James will forever be missed and remembered by his parents Aidan and Caitríona, brothers Fiachra and Oisín, sister Niamh, the wider Lambe and Keelan family, and his wide circle of friends, and everybody whose life he touched. Shortly after his death, University College Dublin reached out to the Lambe family to say that the college was inspired by his courage and dedication to education, despite all of his medical challenges. The College has decided to create a scholarship in his name, the "James Lambe Memorial Scholarship" - a true honour for such a young man whose legacy will now live on through this programme. The scholarship will be made available to students who, just like James, face medical challenges as they seek to complete their studies - the funding will mean that they have one less thing to worry about. A memorial fundraiser is also a good way for us as friends and family to transform our loss into something positive and to be involved in his legacy project.

 

To ensure that the legend of "Lambo" lives on, we are raising money to fund the James Lambe Memorial Scholarship programme which will be administered by UCD Foundation. We plan that every four years a new student will be awarded a scholarship. Each scholarship will be valued at approximately €12,000, and to start the process we have set up this crowdfunding fundraiser on GoFundMe.

 

As James said, we don’t know what tomorrow brings - but today in his memory you can make a big difference! 

Please donate what you can now.