therese and susannagh

My great grandfather Edward Hearne left Carlow for the UK as a young teenager. Son of a butcher he enlisted in the British army veterinary corps. In his pocket he kept a prayer card. St Therese of Liseux. He quickly found himself in the trenches of WW1 and told my grandmother (who was called Therese) that when he prayed to the card it used to curl up and give him comfort. He died at a young age from the after effects of gas in the trenches leaving my granny and her sister orphans. They were placed in the care of some kind (good press at last!) Catholic nuns, whom they loved. When she left them at 18 they gave her a survival list for the outside world. One of the bits of advice was 'don't accept flowers from strangers.' As she was a classic Irish beauty with black hair and blue eyes who became a model in London probably not as useless as it sounds. She kept the prayer card and I have ended up with it as my second name is also Therese. She is a lovely saint who promised to send down showers of roses from heaven. My granny had a beautiful rose garden.

I have asked for help from her a couple of times. Once, as I sorted out my paperwork, she was in the pile and I asked her to help me find a job. With typing as all I had to offer it wasn't such an easy request. Amongst the pile I was sorting a postcard from a stone masons yard fell out. I wrote to the factory asking for a job in the office on the dubious grounds of 'loving stone'. I worked there for 3 years and met my husband there.
Another difficult time when I found myself struggling with lonliness and my daughter had gone to France on an exchange for a term I picked up the prayer card (the relics of Therese were actually travelling around Ireland at the time) and asked if she could help me find a single girl who would come and stay in my daughters room for a few weeks to keep me company.
The next day the foreman stumbled up the stairs in the factory with 'do you have a spare room, there is this girl who needs somewhere to stay tonight...'
She had come from Czech to work on a local farm and the mad old farmer had fallen in love with her. So that is how I met her, ten years ago. She stayed with me for months, witnessed the birth of my dog, helped me training some horses, took us skiing in the Czech mountains...and this morning I  left her at Shannon at 5am with her daughter. She is extracating herself from an unhealthy relationship and although I know we will not lose touch, she won't be coming back. I will miss her.

Showcase Ireland is on. This is the crafts trade fair where most of the international orders are made for the year. It attracts over 5000 visitors from 16 countries.There is a wide selection of top designers in gifts, crafts, fashion, accessories and interiors. My school friend Susannagh Grogan was awarded the Creative Island Award and was highly commended in the accessories section for her printed, limited editions, 100% silk scarves.

 

Election 25th February