Celebrations as Joan turns 100!
Joan Kelly (nee Hurley) was born in November 1920...in the wake of the fight for Irish independence and the Spanish flu pandemic, so it’s little wonder she took the celebrations for her 100th birthday last week in her stride.
Originally from Dundalk the hale and hearty Slane woman marked her centenary surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who filed past one-by-one as she held court on her patio!
Not only that, but the flashing lights from local gardai, paramedics and the fire brigade joined the glow of her candles, as cheers rang put during a drive-by for the very special lady.
‘It was a beautiful day, and we were blessed with sunshine all day,’ says Joan’s daughter Marie Mulligan. ‘She is a wonderful woman, and of course, we would have had a big party for her if it wasn’t for COVID, but we all made the day as special as we could for her, and she was thrilled.’
Joan and her husband John (RIP) have four children; Claire (Greene) who lives in Donore, Marie living in Castletown, Joan (Breidenbach) who settled in North Carolina 30 years ago and youngest John, who lives in their home townland of Newrath, Slane.
‘Joan would have been home if it wasn’t for COVID, but we were able to talk to her on Facetime,’ explains Marie. ‘My mother used to visit for three or four months at a time well into her 90s, so we can’t wait until she can come back to celebrate properly.’
The house was festooned with balloons and flowers, and cards that came ‘flying in the door from everywhere’.
‘Mammy has 11 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren, and there was just a constant stream of people all day,’ adds Marie. ‘ The local school children came and sang happy birthday to her through the window, the Parish Priest Fr Richard Matthews dropped by, as did TD Thomas Byrne and Cllr Wayne Harding did, and the local
children who used to carry her groceries, and she used to give them sweets, are all in college now, and they came or sent messages.’
Of course, there were two other special letters as well.
‘She got her card from the President, with her cheque, which she was calling her dowry, and another one from Michéal Martin, which was really lovely,’ she adds. ‘ We got an incredible cake in Duleek for her, which we shared among all her visitors.’
Originally from Dundalk, Joan was schooled in Waterford, Newry and Belfast, before working in Dublin. But it was Slane farmer John Kelly who lured her to Co Meath.
‘ They were happily married for 50 years, and my mother was very active in the community,’ explains Marie. ‘ She was involved in the retirement centre, the musical society in Navan and the art group in Monasterboice, and was brilliant at needlework, knitting and crocheting. ‘She only stopped driving her car four years ago, and says she really misses it!’
And what does her mother put her long life down too?
‘She has a great sense of humour, ‘says her daughter. ‘She laughs a lot, and she says that keeps her young.’