FIRE COUPLE BACK IN THEIR OMEATH HOME ON VALENTINE’S DAY
PADDY AND ALISHA BACK IN THEIR OMEATH HOME A YEAR AFTER FIRE GUTTED HOUSE
VALENTINE’S Day 2018 is a day which Paddy and Alisha McKevitt will never forget as it’s the day their home at Lislea, Omeath was destroyed by fire.
Now, just a year later, the couple celebrated Valentine’s Day back in their home which has been rebuilt due to the generosity of their neighbours and wider community.
It was thanks to their rescue dog Rosie that Alisha escaped the blaze which had started in the early hours of the morning after Paddy had left for work. Sadly Rosie, whom they had found straying at nearby Flagstaff, did not survive the blaze.
The couple, who had moved from the United States to Omeath so that Paddy could be closer to his aging mother in Newry, were left with little more than the clothes they were wearing after the fire gutted their home.
‘Everything we owned went up in smoke,’ recalls Paddy. ‘I remember standing at the house on Valentine’s Day and I didn’t know what we were going to do.’
‘I had moved back home from the States where I had been living for the past 30 years,’ says Paddy. ‘I had left when I was 21 years of age and just living back in the community for twelve months when the fire happened.’
The people of Omeath and surrounding areas immediately took the couple to their hearts, offering them a place to live and help, both financial and physical, in rebuilding their home.
They’d had no insurance cover at the time as they were in the process of refurbishing the old cottage, which they had spent all their savings on.
Now, not only are they back in their home, but they also have a new pup, Daisy.
‘I was doing a driving course in Portadown and the owner’s son gave me a beautiful Rottweiler pup as he had heard our story,’ says Paddy, who works as a lorry driver.
The couple are overwhelmed by the support which they received. ‘It just goes to show if you keep the faith, it will worth out,’ says Paddy.
Once news of the devastating fire emerged, the local community rallied around them. Neighbours Ciaran and Niamh Phillips began a campaign to raise funds and to get people to help with rebuilding the cottage. The response was phenomenal.
‘ They started the whole thing rolling and stayed step by step with us,’ says Paddy.
Paddy is still incredulous at the generosity shown to them, right from the offer of a rent free house to live in while their home was being rebuilt.
‘We’ve had so many people help out,’ he says. ‘Danny Byrne, a retired builder from Newry came and worked for no charge, Sean McCormick and Declan Crummie, did a lot of work clearing the site after the fire, Seamus Morgan worked day and night to make sure we’d get back into the house,and others came and helped when they could.’
There were amazing donations and discounts given so that the couple could fulfil their dream of moving back into the cottage.
Keenan Timber Frames donated all the roof timbers, the beautiful old style windows were provided by Ulster Windows, Inniskeen at a substantial discount, as was the slate flooring from Anthony McArdle, and Flagstaff Hardware also rowed in and were ‘super helpful’, says Paddy, who did a lot of the work himself. He was also delighted when Johnny Larkin helped out with the electrical appliances.
‘It was beyond imagination the amount of help we got.’
Paddy says he would now like to give something back to the community which helped them rebuild their home.
‘I worked in therapeutic riding when I was in the States and hopefully I can get something like that going here.’