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Suffice to say, if the woman can spawn someone like our fine selves – and ten other Blackberry Lane eejits besides – the
Hailing from Sixmilebridge down in the wilds of County Clare,
Hard to believe, but Tess Byrne turned 80 years old last Tuesday. That’s
Teresa Bernadette O’Shaughnessy was born to Pat and Elena on
Tess has lived through many changes over the last 80 years. The
Over all that time, mum has seen Ireland go from being a backward,
Her own life changed dramatically when, at the age of 16, she accompanied her sister Margaret up from Clare to Wicklow. Margaret was visiting her boyfriend, and future husband, Jack.
The one and only Patrick Joseph Byrne, Tess’ first and
The star-crossed lovers couldn’t be together immediately though, and Tess headed back to Clare, plotting her return over the next three years. During those years apart, Tess wrote Pat a total of 3,946 letters. In return, Pat wrote Tess a total of 2
They moved into the Byrne family home, sharing the 5-room old mud cottage
Namely, Martin, Patricia, Frances, Charlies, Michael, Patrick, Fiona, Gerard, Paul, Declan and Siobhan. Just like Tess, Siobhan was the 11th and last
We all shared a magical childhood though, somewhere
What sort of woman is Tess? Well, let’s look at those early, formative
Or there’s the 15-year-old girl who, tired of the wind blowing her skirt up over
Mum is full of such stories. Indeed, as anyone who knows her will tell you, she’s got thousands upon thousands of stories. She bore 11 children,
Delighted and excited, Tess said, “God, I’ve got a load of relatives and friends travelling from all over the place for my big party – do something about the weather”. So,
Tess Byrne is a big part of the DNA of many people here in this room. All the handsome, dashing & debonair people in this room.
From pushing a pram packed to the rafters with chubby kids up
My Greystones: Tess Byrne
Sweet mother of Guide
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hat can we say about Teresa Bartholomew Horatio
Mary Elvis O’Shaughnessy that won’t get GG sent to bed early without any scoops…?
woman deserves our undying love and devotion.
Tess Byrne had the good fortune to fall head-over-high-heels for one Patrick Joseph Byrne way up here in Wicklow 4, the pair getting married on Sunday, June 26th 1951.
Rather than try and encompass such a life here, we will instead resort to the not-too-distant 80th birthday speech GG prepared for Ma Byrne back in October, 2011. If you know the woman, you’ll get all the gags…
a lot of days. I asked Mick to calculate just how many, and he came back to me a day later with the answer; “loads and loads”.
October 25th, 1931, halfway between Sixmilebridge and Kilkishen in County Clare.
2nd World War. The birth of Elvis. The death of Elvis. Decimilization. The launch of Apollo 11 to the moon. The launch of RTE2. The many faces of Michael Jackson, from black to white and then, suddenly, blue… then purple… and finally, a milky shade of grey. It’s what he would have wanted.
poverty-stricken Third World country to, 80 years later, a backward, poverty-stricken Third World country.
That’s when Tess met Pat, Jack’s brother. Her future
only boyfriend. In her own words, she got lucky.
letters. And one of those was simply asking for the loan of a fiver.
with Pat’s cantankerous widow mother, Catherine.
child of the brood. Take that, Elena.
between The Waltons and The Munsters.
years.
her head when she was cutting turf – and tired of the wolf whistles that would ensue – bought a pair of dungarees and cut the top half off. Becoming the first woman in Clare to wear trousers. The parish priest
even called down to the house to try and stop the madness, but the teenage Tess was having none of it.
and continues to bore us to this day…
God sent some biblical floods. Nonetheless, you all made it here tonight.
The ones with a good heart, a quick wit and that certain twinkle in the eye…
Blackberry Lane – technically, a slightly-angled cliff – to pushing her mates in wheelchair rallies around the ICA hall, mum has never stopped, and never slowed down, in her pursuit of happiness for others…
4 comments
Hi Paul. So sorry for your loss. My deepest sympathy. May she rest in peace
I am so sorry for your loss. What a beautiful piece you’ve written in her honor and thank you for sharing. RIP
So sorry to hear of Tess’ parting, she was such a cheerful person who had a chat and a smile for everyone. Tess was interested and involved in so many things in Delgany and made a wonderful contribution to village life there and in Greystones. She will be greatly missed. My condolences also to all her family. RIP Tess.
Sincere condolences to all the Blackberry Byrnes. She was obviously much loved and will be greatly missed. RIP