Night of celebration on the Hill of Rath as Mary marks her 80th birthday
THERE must be something in the water on the Hill of Rath that keeps the Carolan family so hale and hearty!
The six brothers and sisters, who all grew up on the family farm, gathered last week to celebrate the 80th birthday of middle-child Mary, their first time out for a meal together in decades.
“In fact, I’m not sure we’ve ever had dinner together, just the six of us,” says Pat Carolan with a laugh.
“Everyone is always so busy with family and work, it’s hard to get us in the same room on our own, but it was great when we did.”
Pat is the baby of the family at 71, and also celebrating were Nicholas who runs the family farm still (75), Josie (81), Mona (83) and eldest daughter Kathleen, now 84.
The siblings met in the D Hotel last Tuesday night, where they said they were looked after royally, and had a lovely evening.
“We had a great chat, and after lubricating the vocal chords a little, we all had a sing-song, which we thoroughly enjoyed,” says Pat, who own the Morning Star pub in Tullyallen, and sings regularly with Gerry Cullen.
“My son Stuart (Carolan) also sings, but we kept the party to just the six of us, as if we started inviting grandchildren and the like, you wouldn’t know where to stop”! Drogheda are encouraging the local community to attend this the 5th year the event has been held in the town. Registration for this year’s event is now open and will be exclusively online at www.darknessintolight.ie. from Mary Maguire, 0864032364, 6851754. Rose Duff; 0868458808. 9822504.