“I never dreamed this virus would ever come as far as here. It’s just unreal. Please, God, will we get over it with a bit of prayer. I’m praying all the time but not any more than usual. I say my rosary every morning and watch mass on the TV, something I never did before. It’s on at 10.30 am from Letterkenny, and it’s lovely. Normally, I’d go to mass every morning, and I miss getting out and meeting people.
I find it hard not being able to go where I want but I am luckier than most. I can drive, but I don’t get out of the car in case I meet someone and get talking. I’m nervous about this virus and haven’t gone into a shop since it came. My daughter Bridgie does the shopping for me and leaves it at the gate, and I make bread for myself every day. I don’t remember anything as bad as this. Even during the war, we could at least go about our business and visit each other. Our house was always a ‘rambling’ house. We had ration books in war times. We didn’t have enough to eat, and people had no money. We couldn’t get porridge or bread and what we could get was very limited. I remember my mother bringing home a white loaf when the war was over, and I’ll never forget how good it tasted.
My neighbours are fantastic. I could have up to fourteen callers every day. The door is always open from 6:30 am until I go to bed. I could have my first visitor before 7 am, which could go on until 2 or 3 in the morning.
A few years back, a friend of mine called here one evening after 5 pm, and at almost 3 am, he said, “Mollie, you better go to bed,” and I said, “I will if you would go home!”
I still have my regular stream of visitors, but now they can’t come in. They come every day, though and talk to me from the gate. Even on Mother’s Day, I had callers wish me a happy Mother’s Day. I’m very lucky. Three of my neighbours are my great-granddaughters, and I love them.
Five years ago, I got cancer. Professor Reynolds asked me if I would go into the hospital two weeks before Christmas and be out in time for Christmas. I said no, I wouldn’t. He couldn’t believe it and reminded me of how hard it was to get into St. James’s Hospital. My reply was this, “I have three great-grandchildren, and I open the door for them every Christmas morning for Santa. I’m opening it this year, and if I die after it, I couldn’t care less”. He laughed and said, “Well, that’s the best answer I’ve ever got”. On Christmas morning, their mother, Edel, rings me as soon as they are awake, and I sit in the living room. I love seeing their reactions every year when they see their toys. It’s a tradition we have been doing since my great-granddaughter Fiadh came along, and I wouldn’t miss it.
My husband Paddy died 11 years ago in February. I found him dead in bed. He wasn’t well that week. He had buried his brother on Monday and was dead himself that Thursday. He had a dog that went everywhere with him, and when he came through the door that Wednesday evening, he said to the dog, “Won’t she be good to you now?”. That kept ringing in my ears. I couldn’t understand why he said that. He was on oxygen every night for a couple of years before that. There would be wires all over the floor from the machine. He slept in the far room, and he would have the oxygen machine put away every morning so I wouldn’t fall over it and the light switched on. When I’d see the light on, I’d bring him breakfast and a cup of tea.
As I always did the night before he died, I gave him his tablets and a cup of tea. This night, however, he caught my two hands and said, “Mollie, I’m very happy”, and I said back to him “, Paddy, so am I”. We were 56 years married and 58 years together. When I got up the next morning, the light was on. Everything was put away, and Paddy was lying in bed. I called him, and he didn’t answer, but he was a bit deaf, so I rubbed his arm. He was still warm. “Paddy, here’s your tea,” I said. When there was still no answer, I eventually realised he was gone. He had only just died.
He was buried on Valentine’s Day, and Fr Coonan said to me that I got the nicest Valentine’s wish I ever could have gotten with his last words to me. Knowing he was very happy before he died helped me a lot”.
Mollie is a native of Killeigh, Co. Offaly.
Mollie was interviewed during the first lockdown in March 2020. Her great-grandchildren had to wish her a happy birthday from a distance.
