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Inishowen surprise for
Golden couple
13.08.08
A GOLDEN wedding
anniversary couple in Liverpool got a lovely
surprise when friends presented them with a painting
of the Inishowen church where they first exchanged
vows in August 1958.
In the 1950s, like so many Irish people before them,
Bridie Hirrell from Carndonagh and John Corcoran
from Westmeath travelled to England to find work.
Bridie trained as a nurse and John became a security
fencing contractor. They met at the Irish Centre in
Liverpool where they both enjoyed dancing and
socialising. In 1958 they decided to marry, and
their wedding was held on August 4, 1958 at Sacred
Heart Church, Carndonagh.
Their friend Mike McCullough takes up the story:
"So, it's now 2008 and they were celebrating their
Golden Wedding Anniversary. A group of us friends
were wrecking our brains to think of a suitable
gift. |
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"We had an idea – a
painting of the church in which they were married,
but there were one or two problems – we didn’t know
where they were married, and we didn’t know if we
could find an artist who could provide the
painting."
After a lot of "sneaky questioning" the friends we
were able to find details of the church, and the
internet provided them with some basic information.
"There were plenty of pictures of |
the inside of Sacred
Heart on the net, but very few of the outside. We
couldn’t ask their relatives so we turned to the
internet again, and Brendan Deehan of the
InishowenNews.com came to our rescue and supplied
some decent shots of the church," added Mike.
The friends then found a local Merseyside artist
Mary Barrett who was able to convert the photographs
into a painting of the church.
"We were even able to find out the amazing fact that
the wedding had been held at 8.00 in the morning as
many of the priests were taking part in special
ceremonies that year."
John and Bridie celebrated their anniversary with
Mass at St Edmond's Church where the couple took
their vows again.
"This was followed by a hooley at the Comrades' Club
in Crosby. Around 150 guests danced the night away
including many relatives from Ireland.
"To cut a long story short, Bridie and John were
gobsmacked, as we scousers say, when they saw the
picture. A little piece of Carndonagh now graces the
wall of their Liverpool home." |
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