Wedding of the year in lovely Labbamologga T.O. PARK
Last Saturday was a very special day for two great people, Greg Carroll and Laura Manning, who came to live in our community a few years ago. They were wed in the Church of St Joseph in nearby Ballyorgan.
The church in traditional style with its majestic altar looked amazing, all ready for the day thanks to Francis O’Donnell from across the street.
There to perform the wedding ceremony was Fr Michael O’Shea from Kilfinane. With reverence, humour and with he did a superb job, greatly impressing all present. We emerged from the ceremony into bright sunshine and strolled down the centre of picture-postcard Ballyorgan to The Village Inn. There to greet us was the one and only Nuala Mee, assisted by Christopher Nolan.
After some banter and good cheer we headed for the wedding reception in the lovely Strand Hotel perched high on the banks of the Shannon, an ideal location for a big celebration.
We were of course led by the bride and groom.
Laura looked stunning as she gracefully emerged from the church arm in arm with her husband Greg, as always cool as the proverbial cucumber. They both radiated happiness so obvious in the bright April sunshine.
The reception meal and music in The Strand was superb. Guests made good use of the rooftop arena to sample fantastic views of Limerick City, a city that has dramatically changed and improved in a very short time.
The wedding speeches were short and appropriate with contributions from both families, bride and groom and of course best man Ken Carroll. Ken is some hell of a guy, he can do it, he did it all with style and panache in a most entertaining manner drawing laughs and wild applause from his audience.
Day two of the celebrations took place at T.O. Park next door to the home of Greg and Laura. Ann Forde of Mitchelstown was at hand to drive the newlyweds the short distance to the park in her gleaming white vintage Ford Cortina.
As they arrived near neighbour and brilliant piper Maria Buckley led them into the park with her pipe playing music with gusto and authority. Friends and family were all there to great the entourage. The atmosphere was electric as Maria led them into the barn, now The Grand Old Opry of the South. She led them straight onto the stage playing away to her hearts content.
By now a hugely talented young man, Kevin O’Brien, had arrived. Kevin took to the stage and played for hours. His music was so good that many of us quit the chat, just sat by the stage soaking up the great music and song of this amazing performer. Thank you Kevin. You really did contribute greatly to making the evening so unique and different.
A huge help of course were the army of former students, friends of Greg from the golden era at CBS Mitchelstown. The chat, the stories, tales of travel, a tapestry of events, places, tours, all organised and led by their teacher of these times, Mr Flynn (T.O.). They are all held in huge esteem by him, friends for life, a truly special group of former charges with Greg at the centre.
We conclude by all joining together in wishing Greg and Laura all the very best for now and always in their new life together here in our community. As already stated, they are indeed ‘neighbours from Heaven’ and we are so lucky to have them dwell amongst us.
Congratulations once again and well done to you both, Greg and Laura.