TURNING 100-years-old is a feat that not too many people reach, and fewer again turn 100 twice, but that was the case recently of Adrigole man, William Blake.
William was born in April 1925, but his birth wasn’t registered until May 2nd 1925, which is deemed to be his official birthday.
With many children at the time being born at home, it was the day you were presented at your local church that your date of birth was officially recorded.
William was the sixth child born out of twelve children, of which two younger sisters, Nora and Christina, are still alive.
In his teenage years, William headed to Offaly where he worked for Bord na Móna.
Following on from that, he went working for a local lady, Julia Maher, just outside Roscrea.
Upon her death he took over the farm, and met local lady Mai Maher whom he married in the 1970s.
They have two daughters, Mary and Dina, and in recent years have been joined by eight grandchildren. William is still active on the farm and will occasionally tend to the cattle on the farm and check to make sure everything has been done correctly.
Despite living away from Cork for over 80 years, William is a keen follower of the Cork football and hurling teams.
In previous times, he would head into Roscrea into one of the local public houses or to his local pub Brereton’s to watch the games, and would have no problem in having a wager with the locals in his support of Cork, regardless of how the team was performing.
William loves to reminisce about his youth in Adrigole and especially about the times growing up with his family and neighbours in the townland of Crooha.
Not a man for extravagant parties, William held a small gathering in his house where he was joined by family members.
Many cards were received, with the most anticipated one from President Michael D Higgins arriving along with a small gift from the state.
