Five generations celebrate special family moment
FIVE GENERATIONS of women from the one family came together for a family weekend in Killinick, where there was almost 100 years of a gap between the youngest and oldest.
Kitty Walsh, who celebrated her 100th birthday in March, met her great-great-granddaughter, nine week old Sofia Maria, for the first time, at what was a joyous Sunday afternoon get-together for the family.
Born in Tipperary in 1918, Kitty moved to Wexford in 1937/38 and married Killinick man Dan Walsh. They had eight children, of which Marie (O’Brien) was the eldest. Dan sadly passed away in 1986.
Their oldest daughter Marie trained as a nurse and went to the UK where she met and married Galway man Terry O’Brien in 1964. While living in Glasgow, Marie gave birth to Catriona in 1965, and so the family tree continued.
Catriona moved to Dublin in 1977 from Scotland. She gave birth to her daughter Emma Kate in 1996 and married Laois man Michael Lawlor in 2005. One year later, Emma’s brother Peter was born.
On August 24 of this year, Sofia Maria was born to Emma and her Mexican partner Renaldo Guzman Doyle, to complete the ‘five card trick’ as the family dubbed it!
Michael Lawlor, Catriona’s husband, explained that the family is all scattered throughout Ireland but make their way back to the home-place in Killinick regularly, though not necessarily all at the one time!
He added: ‘Little Sofia Maria is about nine weeks old and we said that it would be lovely to bring her down to Kitty so it was organised for a few weeks. Kitty was delighted; she got her hair done on Sunday morning and all for the occasion!’
The family enjoyed an afternoon of reminiscing by the fire in the home place.
Michael remarked: ‘Getting four generations together is one thing but five is something else. It was a very special moment for us all and one that we will cherish.’