Painting of childhood Mayo home a heartwarming birthday surprise for Annie

On her 90th birthday, Annie Keaveney was moved to tears when brought by her family to the site of her childhood home which has long been demolished.

Facing her in a field where she played as a youngster at Sheeaune, Castlebar, was an 8x4 foot painting vividly depicting the cosy thatched cottage where she had been raised.

Annie admitted afterwards to feelings of emotion when she saw the artwork capturing the essence of the neat cottage she remembered so fondly.

“I cried a little," she confessed, “but I was delighted. The family insisted they bring me to Sheeaune but they didn’t mention the painting. They kept that a secret."

Annie, a widowed mother of six with seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild, now lives near Turlough.

She says she was reluctant at first to go to Sheeaune at the behest of her family as she felt “there was now nothing to see there."

As she arrived at the location of her former home (on the Windy Gap road) she was astonished to see so many relatives, friends and former neighbours waiting to greet her.

To cap it all, as Annie is a devout Catholic, Fr. Shane Costello travelled out from Castlebar to bless the painting and act as prayer leader.

With the assistance of Michael, one of her sons, Annie recalled for The Connaught Telegraph her childhood years, a time blotted with huge sadness due to the untimely death of her mother, Mary Cunningham McHugh, at the age of 30 in 1938.

Annie was only three and a half when her mother passed.

“I don’t remember my mother and never saw a photo of her. That saddens me.”

Helped by Annie’s grandmother (Mary Murray McHugh), her father, Patrick, set about raising his family of four, Maria, Mike, Agnes and Annie.

Annie is now the only surviving member of the McHugh family.

Reminiscing on bygone days in the 1930s and 1940s, harvesting hay and cutting turf which would be brought by ass and cart for sale in Castlebar, Annie said: “I loved farming. It was no bother to me.

“We had a jackass. He was wild but I was well able for him.

“We walked everywhere, sometimes with no shoes.

“When attending Burren school each child would bring along a sod of turf to keep the school heated.

“Our cottage had a half door. When the cow would calf we’d keep the calf warm by placing it in front of the open fire. My father would take the half door down and put it in front of the fire to protect the calf in case it jumped in the flames and got burnt.

“Times were tough when I was growing up. Nothing was easy but everybody was the same."

As she enters her ninth decade, Annie is sheltered by the umbrella of support extended by her six children, Patrick, John, Martin, Martina, Pauline and Michael, and their offspring.

Artist Jacqueline Hopkins’ painting shows a beautiful whitewashed cottage with a brown and brooding mountain in the background.

“I could tell mum was delighted,” commented Michael Keaveney afterwards.

“Seeing the old house as it once looked again obviously brought back memories and meant a lot to her.”