Laois couple celebrate two big milestones
Denis, Derek, Denise, Ann, Lillian, Imelda, Kevin celebrate their father and mothers - Denis and Bridget Farrell – 70th wedding anniversary and Bridget’s 90th birthday in the Killeshin Hotel in Portlaoise
IT’S not every day that a couple can boast of celebrating a 90th birthday at the same time as a 70th wedding anniversary, but that’s exactly what a Mountrath couple celebrated recently in the Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise.
It was Bridget Farrell’s birthday, so her year younger husband Denis suggested that they celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on the same occasion.
With the support of their four daughters and three sons and some of their grandchildren, they set about organising the night. Extended family members, neighbours and long-time friends, as well as members of the local Post 27 UN Veterans gathered for what was a great night of entertainment, reminiscing, laughter and celebrations as the one-man band George Washington had them up dancing and singing until the wee hours.
Family members and friends came from all corners of the country to attend the celebration. They came from Wexford, Tipperary, Mayo, Dublin, Kildare, Cork and from England.
Looking back over the years, Denis said that while stationed in The Curragh Army Camp in Kildare, he met Bridget at a local dance in Kilcullen, where she had been working in a local shop.
He recalled the date they were married 27 June 1955. They set up home in one of the houses in the army barracks and went on to have nine children. Sadly, one died while a baby and another daughter died on 25 February this year.
During his service, Denis served overseas as part of the Irish UN contingent that was sent to halt the Katangese secession from The Congo, a chapter in his life that he prefers not to remember.
Denis said that he left the army at the age of 40. When things were bad economically in Ireland in the 1980s, the family moved to England, where he worked in the security industry.
With the family growing, Denis and Bridget decided to move back home and have been living in Mountrath for the past 22-years, which, they say, they love.
“It was a great night,” said Denis, “the hotel staff couldn’t have done enough for us. I’d also like to thank my family who helped us organise the celebrations, as well as George Washington, who was great with the music and had a bit of wit about him.
“But most of all, I’d like to thank Bridget for sticking up with me for the past 70 years.”
