A close-knit community has pulled together to raise funds for a young family with four children who lost their only savings just days after Christmas.

Dad-of-four Liam Scully (30) was panic-stricken to discover he had dropped a wallet holding more than €2,000 after withdrawing it from the bank in Cavan Town on Friday and was devastated that he was unable to find it after retracing his steps.

“I work as a scaffolder up in Dublin and I called into the bank to take out our money for the month which is what we usually do," he told Independent.ie.

"It wasn’t until I got home that I pulled my phone out of my pocket and realised that the wallet wasn’t there. I was nearly in tears pulling apart the car looking for it. We usually have a bit of savings but after Christmas and Santy we just didn't.

“I drove back into town, retracing my steps. I was on my knees looking under cars in the car park, retracing my steps from the car to the bank… there was just about 200 yards between them. I came home then and my five-year-old said his Mammy was crying, it was horrible,” he said.

Liam’s wife Laura took to Facebook to ask her friends to keep an eye out for the missing wallet, which contained the family’s savings to get through January. The post was brought to the attention of local hairdresser Lorraine O’Neill, who said she couldn’t stop thinking about the young family after hearing of their misfortune.

“When I saw the post I just couldn’t stop thinking about them. I couldn’t get them out of my head. I knew we could do something to help them. They’re such a lovely young couple and they come from a family of hard workers and have four little boys,” said Lorraine, who owns Main Street Barbers in Cavan Town.

Lorraine decided to raffle off two GHD hair straighteners and was astonished at the generosity of her customers and local people who raised €2000 to help the couple within six hours.

“Cavan is just a town of great people and there is such good will around, it was fantastic how we all pulled together. We actually raised €3370 so we are thinking we might do something for the town like get a nice bench with the rest of the money,” said Lorraine.

Although Liam believes that his wallet was picked up by a passerby, he says the experience has given his family a much greater gift than just money.

“My wallet had my driver’s licence and SAFE pass in it so whoever did pick it up would know that I wasn’t hard to find. But the experience has showed us what a fantastic community we live in.”

“It’s given us a lot more than money. I get a bit emotional thinking about it. They say God sends angels every now and then so you know they exist and Lorraine is definitely one and another lady Fiona Corby. We couldn’t believe it. You think that we live in a cynical world where nobody cares about their neighbours, but the people of Cavan really proved that that’s not the case,” he said.

The dad said he will keep the list of the people who helped the young family to show his children when they grow up.

"We will always remember it."

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