Kerry man's delight as he celebrates turning 80 – ‘he said it was the birthday he's ever had'

Irish Independent

2 days ago

You'd never have guessed, such is his freshness when you look at him, that Jack was 80. In fact, you'd easily give him a good 70! Thankfully – barring the quadruple bypass operation he underwent a few years back – Jack is still fighting fit as he enters his ninth decade. This is a very good thing, considering he'd have needed all of his energy for the two-day birthday celebrations earlier this month.
Lorraine, speaking on Monday, said that her dad, who normally would shun the limelight and not want a big fuss made at all, absolutely loved the whole weekend.
"There was a big group of his friends and family there, maybe close to 50 people. It was lovely and intimate. The team at the Dingle Bay Hotel was absolutely excellent. We'd been there before for my mom's 70th and we had a great time so we knew they'd be a good bet again for dad's birthday,' she said.
'Dad was born on July 4 and so we always joke that he's an Independence Baby,' she laughed.
The Friday night of the party weekend consisted of dinner in the Dingle Bay and then on the Saturday, Lorraine said that it was arranged for everyone to head off on a tour of the best sights and sounds that West Kerry has to offer, all as part of the Dingle Open Top Bus experience.
Sadly though, the weather gods did not receive the memo for the day.
'The weather wasn't great for us and we were back out around the cliffs, The heavens opened," she laughed.
"You know what though, there were a couple of people there who'd be from Dingle, neighbours of my dad, who had lived there all their lives and they said to him the next day that they just had one of the best days in recent memories. They just loved it. They [the Dingle Open Air Bus] could not have done more for us. They were amazing
'They'd be people in their 70's and 80's who would just never have thought to do something like that Open Air Bus. They'd have seen it pass by their house probably two or three times a week and it's just because we laid it on that they ended up doing it and they loved it,' she continued, adding that in a beautiful moment, her dad turned to her and said 'that it was his best birthday ever and that's saying something at 80!"
On his quadruple bypass, Lorraine said that he dad likes to say that he's got a brand new reconditioned engine put in and so he's planning on being around for a good few years yet!"
"He does a bit of work there down at the beehive huts in Fahan in the morning and it just keeps him ticking over. He likes to keep busy doing things,' she added.