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Tragumna daughter's surprise for mum goes viral

December 12th, 2016 5:40 PM

By Jackie Keogh

Gone viral: Anne O'Driscoll gets a real shock as her daughter Mairead arrives home unexpectedly and gets a hug from her dad, Anthony.

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At first it looked like they were doing the ‘mannequin challenge’ because they stood stock still, with arms outstretched, and their jaws dropped. But when the swearing started, you knew it could only be a surprise Irish homecoming!

AT first it looked like they were doing the ‘mannequin challenge’ because they stood stock still, with arms outstretched, and their jaws dropped. But when the swearing started, you knew it could only be a surprise Irish homecoming!

Mairead O’Driscoll’s mother, Anne, took the lord’s name in vain and then called her daughter several colourful names before she ever truly got around to welcoming the 22-year old she hadn’t seen since she left for Boston on October 14th 2015.

Mairead’s father, Anthony, wasn’t much better in the swearing department. Clearly the shock had got to them both. 

Anne told The Southern Star the reason they were standing in their kitchen at Bawnlahan in Tragumna shortly before 7pm on Friday, December 2nd last, with their eyes downcast, glued to a mobile phone, is that they were waiting to Skype Mairead before she went off on a trip to Toronto.

They weren’t expecting her to walk in the door. Mairead’s mam said she knew for a fact her daughter was coming home on December 8th, but the rest of the family weren’t expecting her until Christmas Eve.

‘I thought I was in the know,’ said Anne, ‘but she caught me rotten.’

It was Mairead’s friend, Hannah O’Driscoll, who captured it all on video and given the range of emotions and the reaction of her parents, it’s no wonder the clip has gone viral.

Mairead confirmed that the clip has – at last count – had 16,000 hits on Joe.ie, plus thousands more on Her.ie, and even Ireland AM ran a story on Monday. But with friends all over the world sharing it on Facebook, it looks like it will run for a little while longer.

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