“I have lived and worked in Tullamore since 1974. I feel lucky to have always had a happy life and believe I have been blessed with three families. My birth family was in Tyrrellspass, Co-Westmeath, and I am the eldest of four children. Our Dad was the local primary school principal, as were his parents before him. In my time there, the girls were upstairs in two rooms, and the boys were downstairs, so Dad never taught me. We lived two doors away, so the school run meant just that! My family began when I married Michael in 1981, and we have a son and a daughter. I consider the school community of St Joseph’s N.S., Arden View, my third family. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there as a teacher and principal for almost forty years. It was a joy and a privilege to share life with so many parents, pupils and colleagues in a junior school environment where a supportive community meant we could all work together for the children in our care.
In retirement, I have lots to do. I love reading -mainly modern fiction, I keep bees, and I spend a lot of time in the garden. I have realised recently that the circle of life is coming around again. Dad, in his retirement, read regularly and provided us with vegetables and flowers from a well-managed garden. He also kept bees there in earlier years, so that interest brings back many happy memories – and a little honey when the sun shines!”

Geraldine Byrne