Claire and I have been friends since we were kids. My family moved from Ballinteer to Killiney when I was 11 years old and I wasn’t too happy about it at the time. I loved the new house (I had my own room at last) and the garden was amazing but I’d left all my friends behind not to mention starting a brand new school in 6th class just in time to finish primary school. Needless to say it was a huge opportunity for pre-teen angst! On our first day in the new house I was hanging out in the front garden, cautiously sniffing the place out when two girls my age, Claire and Mary wandered up the road and asked if I’d like to come and play. In that wonderful easy way that happens with kids I just slipped into the group and we remained friends throughout our teenage years. They introduced me to U2 and we’d spend hours listening to War and Unforgettable Fire in our bedrooms, I remember staying up to watch Self Aid and us all wishing we could be that girl that Bono brought up on stage. I was into Larry Mullin, Mary had dibs on Bono and Claire fancied Adam Clayton. Mary moved away at some point and I didn’t really keep in touch with her, although Claire did. She has always been brilliant at keeping in touch with everyone, she even came to visit me when I was living in Mexico and is the only person I have on this side of the world who knows first hand about my life over there.
We also have a coincidental connection. Way back when our grandparents were teenagers her great-uncle and my grandmother, Christy and May, lived in Dun Laoghaire and they were sweethearts (as they used to say). They wanted to get married in fact but, as the story goes, Claire’s great-grandmother didn’t approve of my grandmother, she being of a lower social standing, so the relationship was broken up and they both went on to marry other people.
[I knew this would happen :D. Edited to correct a couple of details that my family were on the phone to me about this afternoon. It was actually my great-grandmother who didn’t approve of Christy, not the other way around. Also, another little tidbit, many years later Christy’s family home was sold and turned into a nursing home and it was in this same nursing home that my grandmother spent her final days. Funny aul thing life!]
Well, though we’ve both travelled and lived abroad at different stages, we’re both married with kids and it’s been 25 years since we met, we’re still friends and we’re now living in the same town again. Oh, and she has two of the cutest funniest kids I know and I got to photograph them in Powerscourt for her recently. Have I mentioned how cute they are? Ciara’s voice would melt your heart, it’s like the chipmunks on helium, and Michael is a performer, he’s always singing and dancing and he has the moves.
