Breaffys nobel son

THE village of Breaffy is celebrating a unique distinction following the revelation that the joint winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize for medicine has immediate family connections in the community.

Professor John O’Keefe, who was chosen for his pioneering work in unlocking the secrets of Alzheimer’s disease, is a son of the late Bridget Bourke, Kilknock, Breaffy. His grandparents were the late John and Margaret Bourke.

Bridget emigrated to America at the age of 16 and later married Michael O’Keefe, who hailed from Newmarket, Co. Cork. They had two children, John and Linda.

Now the extended Bourke family are proudly waiting with anticipation for the prestigious presentation ceremony in Stockholm on December 10.

London-based Prof. O’Keefe, aged 75, is scheduled to be awarded an honorary doctorate of science from Univerity College Cork on December 15, at which members of the Bourke family are planning to be in attendance.

It is widely hoped his outstanding achievement will also be marked in the home county of his mother.