“I met my husband at my sister’s wedding. My sister’s husband was his cousin, I was the bridesmaid, and he was the groomsman. We kept in touch, and eventually, we started courting and got married in our native Westmeath. There were no wedding dresses back then. I wore a suit, and at that time, you didn’t go anywhere for a reception; you had the party at home. We had breakfast in the house after getting married, and then we had a whole day and a night of people calling. That evening we had half a barrel of beer and music. Sure it went on nearly all night.

We came to this house straight from the honeymoon, that’s over 60 years ago now. Bord Na Mona was starting in Boora then, building these houses in Kilcormac for the workers. Kilcormac was very different when we came here first. There were cobbled streets, and it was a great town. Bord Na Mona was one great thing that came, and it gave a lot of employment to the area. There were two big shops in the town. One was Williamses, and the other was Egans. In those days, there was no such thing as going in and picking what you wanted off the shelves. It was all handed over the counter to you, and that was how it was. I remember going down shopping, and there were three men behind the main counter. There was another behind the bacon counter, two at the hardware counter and two more in the office. There would be rows of people waiting at each counter for their groceries or sliced bacon to be handed over. That time you could get everything you needed down the town. Egan’s was a grain store and used to do a great trade. Centra is there today, but it went through a few hands over the years. Hugh Coffey had a drapers shop back then, which is still there. The Coffeys came from Kinnitty. The men would go and get measured for suits there. There was also a guest house called St. Anne’s, a curates residence before that as well as a convent.

90% of the Bord Na Mona workers went to work on bicycles. My husband cycled daily to Boora with his lunch box under his arm. He worked down on the actual bog driving the machinery. When he would come home, we would have ‘Sceal Na Mona, ‘ which was the newsletter that Bord Na Mona brought out. The children used to sit and read the book to him because he couldn’t read well himself.

I got involved in the community in a big way. I joined the Children of Mary, the Legion of Mary, the Apostolic Society, the missions, the Sale of Work and many more. The nuns made mighty sales of work, and at that time, they used to visit all the houses. They were very hands-on and knew everybody in the area. The Kilcormac people raised some money to build a much-needed community centre. We started a laundry service for the elderly in the 70s or 80s. We had a great little business down there, washing and ironing. We called it the ‘Care of the Elderly,’ and we organised outings as well. Up to two years ago, before I got sick, I used to ring the buses and places where we’d be stopping to eat to organise the outings. This year I went on the trip, but my daughters brought me in the car because I wouldn’t be able to get up onto the bus.

I’m 95 now, and I love getting out. I go to the local hairdressers twice a month. My daughter brings me out to collect my pension, and we do the shopping. I can get around with my stick, but this knee has been giving me trouble since I was 90. I said I wouldn’t bother getting a new one”.

Peggy Phelan passed away on Tuesday, 27 November 2018. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis.