ALMOST 70 members of the O’Driscoll clan gathered in Rosscarbery at the weekend to celebrate with the matriarch of the family, Peggy; the occasion marked the first time in over 20 years that all of her nine children were together, and for many of the grandchildren, it was their first time meeting one another.
Two of Peggy’s children, Michael and Imelda, met with The Southern Star last Friday in the Celtic Ross Hotel, where the family were due to have dinner later that evening.
Throughout the conversation, extended O’Driscoll’s drift through the bar, some of whom had only just arrived an hour previously.
‘We’re just really excited to be here. It’s crazy, it really is,’ says Imelda, in between greeting numerous relatives, with a variety of accents, who all stop by to say hi.
‘We love her, and we’re proud of her, and we’re all just happy to be here.’
Brothers and Sister John Hayes, Peggy O'Driscoll, Paddy Hayes, Jim Hayes, and Bill Hayes. (Photo: Jim Edwards)
Planning began back in September by Michael, but the feat proved to be no bother to him as he has previously worked for two charities who support those with haemophilia, including The Birchgrove Group.
Of the nine siblings, four live in San Francisco, two in Wales, and one each in Bath, Cambridge, and London.
Peggy, who will be 88 in September, had all her children by the time she was 28, having met her husband Finbarr at a dance at the Broadway Cinema in Dunmanway, when Peggy was working at The Railway Hotel (today The Parkway).
Born in Reenascreena in 1937, her late husband Finbarr grew up in Dunmanway.
He passed away in 2002 at the age of 68, and it was his funeral that was the unfortunate occasion that last brought the siblings together.
His father, Mick O’Driscoll had been involved in both the Kilmichael and Crossbarry ambushes, under the command of Tom Barry.
‘My parents married in London in 1957 and had three children in England,’ says Imelda, and they subsequently moved back to Drinagh in 1971.
All of the children went to school locally with the girls attending the convent in Dunmanway and the boys in the De La Salle in Skibbereen.
Drinagh native Peggy O'Driscoll, now living in Rosscarbery. (Photo: Jim Edwards)
Imelda herself had been in London training as a nurse when she was followed over by her younger brother Michael, in the Irish tradition of following emigrant family members to their new home.
It was the same when she moved to America in October 1984 during the recession a year after she got married to her husband James; she was followed by her brother Paul, his girlfriend Margaret, her twin brothers Finbarr and Kieran, both plasterers who followed in their father’s footsteps, and finally, her brother John.
This weekend, those Imelda and Michael were joined by all of these brothers and sisters, as well as Vickie, Mark, and Jackie.
In all 68 people met last weekend, with just four out of 24 grandchildren absent.
The gathering also included seven great-grandchildren, including the youngest, five-month old Lillian, as well as Peggy’s brothers Bill (now living in Wilton, Cork city), Jim (Dublin), and Paddy and John (both Rosscarbery).
Her sister Mary passed away in 2016, while Kay and Mick, the youngest of the Hayes side of the family, were unfortunately unable to attend.
‘This week has been so full of exciting, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime celebration,’ say Imelda and Michael. ‘We said, ‘why wait? Why not enjoy it?’ This week is a celebration of my mother’s life.’
While those in America manage to meet up, and those in the UK get together each year, day-to-day life meant that a whole-scale reunion is, naturally, difficult.
However the American cohort have been back and forth, and grew up playing gaelic football and hurling in San Francisco.
Peggy herself has seen a huge part of the world through her visits to the States, having already been on holidays to Aruba, Hawaii, Mexico, and many other locations, including Rome for her 80th birthday.
With so many O’Driscoll genes in the same room, there has been plenty of storytelling, singing, and reminiscing.
While Peggy is lauded as a great singer, it is her brother Paddy who found showband fame with ‘The Happy Wanderers’.
While Michael and Imelda admit the talent isn’t shared, with the exception of Paul, ‘it doesn’t stop us!’
On behalf of the family, Michael and Imelda gave a warm thanks to the staff of the Celtic Ross Hotel and especially the manager, Ann Downey.
