‘It was the dream of a lifetime to do the London Marathon’
and was treated very well while there. She said: “The Portuguese are a very warm people and I had great time there too.
“We had very good couriers with us who used to go out ahead of us to make sure that the hotel was all ready. “There was about 50 of us in the walk, which was usually 100km, and we each raised the €4,000.”
“We also went to Thailand in the Noughties. We stayed in hotels and went out on the river on the boats, and it was pretty hot.
“It was completely different to here – to see all the women washing their hair in the river. There were very poor people out there, a lot worse than you see here in Ireland. I felt sorry for them – they had nothing.”
As well as 100km walks around the world, Teresa has done many marathons for her worthy causes.
She said: “I’ve done 25 Dublin City Marathons, and I did the London Marathon as well. It was the dream of a lifetime doing the London one.” “I nearly fell over the line the first Dublin City Marathon that I did, and I went on the wrong trail on another one – but I managed to catch up and get back in.
“The crowd was fierce and there was a big crowd from Abbott’s in Dublin.” “My friends were always very good to me when I was doing walks.” “I have loads of thank you letters from all over the place
“The girls in Abbott were particularly good to me in those 26 years that I worked there.”
Teresa first did the Warriors Run in Strandhill in 1989, and she hadn’t trained for it.
She said: “I did the walk for a poor young lad who had cancer. I went up the mountain and I used a stick to get down again.
“I’ve done another one since.”
What was it that made her want to do so much walking?
“It was always in my head. I was never picked for the sports when I was young. I was always doing cleaning when when the other girls were away at sports.
“I was always at the cleaning and I found that walking was very relaxing and great for clearing the head. “I have been walking all through the virus and never missed a day.
“I walk 5km a day. Last night I walked from 6pm to 7.30pm around the park. I go up the Mall and over to Doorly Park and around back home.”
When asked when was her last big walk, Teresa nearly leaped out of the chair – a chair she doesn’t sit in for any great length of time!
She said: “Greece – and it was just wonderful.
“It was so warm, and the people were so friendly to us all and it had all the old buildings going way back in time.
“It would be great to go back to Greece – and there are no grey skies there.”
I asked if she intends to do more walks for good causes.
Teresa said: “What my brain lets me do, I just go and do things and I never make arrangements.
“I collect the sponsorship myself but last year that was cut back. In February and March I did a 5km every day for cystic fibrosis and people contributed online for me.
“People also met me on the walk and gave me money.
“After that I sent away €950 for charity that had been given to me – and there is more to come in from the online contributions.”
Teresa showed me a photograph of when Abbott got her to do “a bit of boxing”.
Teresa is constantly on the move, and she showed me scores of letters and photos from her huge collection – which is unique by any standards.
She laughed as she showed a picture of her dressed up as a kissogram for charity many years ago.
SHE SAID: “I did a kissogram at two weddings for charity. “And when the real Mother Teresa was in town in 1996 I dressed up as the lady herself. “I love people, I love talking and I love being involved.
“And I loved going into pubs collecting with the bucket, like TD’s pub beside me when it was going well. “The girls used to fill in the cards for me. I counted the money and I went and banked it.
“I had great respect for the bosses in Abbott, who were very helpful to me. I won a prize for hygiene in Abbott.” Teresa bought her current home in the early 1980s with “my own money”. “I used to knit at night as well as working in Abbott.
“I love living here in Emmett Place. I have great neighbours and I am very grateful for that.
“I used to rent out part of the house –
I had two girls staying with me. “I used to love cooking and I love doing things with my hands as well. “My friend Joanie Scanlon is a great help to me for many years and she is good at talking.”
“I did everything late in life. and Mary Sweeney and John Sweeney did a lot of walking with me too.
“I was on peace work at Abbott and it was a great job to work on.”
Teresa then shows a trophy that she got after making a collection for the development of MacSharry Park, a major amenity not just for Cranmore but for all of Sligo.
She was crowned ‘Queen of Sligo’ on that trophy, but mementoes and trophies are incidental to Teresa as she seems to be a person who really comes alive when walking the road or singing on stage – and she’s very comfortable in both venues. She has a bag of medals for various other athletic activities. She said: “I love people, I love listening to them and to their stories and I love helping people – especially those who need it. I would love to have been a nurse because they do so much good. “I always worked hard all my life and I love to make people laugh – I think that people are at their best when they are laughing. “Sitting down is too much for me and I love walking.
“I did Tops of the Town once, when I performed the song ‘Sisters’.”
“We used to do a party piece when there was a do for cystic fibrosis. Mine was ‘The Butcher Boy’ – and I won a trophy for that.”
Teresa burst into a full-blooded version of that tragic ballad. She said: “I loved being on the stage – it was Abbott that started me off.”
And she has never stopped, Teresa’s stage has been the streets of Sligo. She has lived a rich, full life that has made such an impact on so many people. That’s our ‘Mother Teresa’. A true treasure of Sligo and the kind of woman you don’t meet every day!