Unique occasion at mayo maternity unit

THE maternity ward at Mayo General Hospital had an exceptionally busy day yesterday as three sisters gave birth.  

Mairead Fitzpatrick is one of three sisters - from Cloonfad, on the Mayo-Roscommon border - to have a baby at Castlebar facility in the past 24 hours.

Mairead gave birth to baby Thomas Og alongside her sister Bernie, who welcomed Phelim and her other sister Joeline, who had a little girl named Sorcha.

She told the RTE News at One: 'There’s four girls, there’s five of us altogether in the house, but there was four of us expecting and there’s one brother.

'I was due on Friday, August 28, while Joeline was actually sectioned, she was booked in for a section yesterday, it was her second baby.

'Christina is still waiting for her little one, she was due on August 30.'

Mairead said their younger brother - who lives in England - has headed back to the UK and is hoping that the four sisters will christen their babies on the one weekend to save him some money on the plane fares.

And she added that she’s not sure which counties the four new tots will affiliate to ahead of Mayo’s replay against Dublin on Saturday - as their dads are from Mayo, Galway and Roscommon.

Mairead thanked the staff at Castlebar who looked after the sisters and she said they 'couldn’t believe' how the sisters were all due around the same time.

She said: 'We just never realised it would all happen on the one day.'