GOLDEN WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Paddy & Frances on their wedding day

Tuesday 17th of June 2008 marked the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Paddy & Frances Sheehan, Main Street, Goleen

Paddy Sheehan from Goleen and Elizabeth Frances Collins from Schull were married in St Mary’s Church Schull at 9.00 in the morning of the 17th June 1958 and held a reception in The Golf Links Glengarriff before taking a whistle stop tour of Ireland in a hired Ford Anglia as a honeymoon, staying in Kerry, Clare, Galway, Donegal, Longford Dublin and Tipperary, before returning to Goleen eight days later. On return they set up home in Goleen where their four children were born Diarmuid, Deirdra, Eucharia and Maebh.  The couple have four grandchildren Carragh-May and Gearoid O’ Mahony, and Ciaran and Ellen O’Connor This deeply religious couple worked hard and achieved much over the years.  As all those who know them will agree their relationship and dedication to one another is unique in so many ways, it is very much a case of two for the price of one or you can’t have one without the other.  The lyrics of the Christy Moore, song “The Voyage” also come to mind here and are indeed very apt, they signed on together, were determined not to fail, and they certainly built their marriage with care to last the whole trip, so we congratulate and salute them.  

This milestone anniversary was meant to be a quiet family affair away from the limelight of politics and Leinster House and as it was a working day in Dail Eireann for the “West Cork Come Back Kid “ it seemed they may pull it off but, alas it was not to be. Now we all know it is very hard to keep a secret in the environs of Leinster House but to organise a surprise party is nearly impossible but on Tuesday evening on a very rare occasion which was the celebration of a golden wedding anniversary of this very popular West Cork Couple the secret was maintained.  Goleen Deputy P.J. Sheehan and his wife Frances were half way down the Members Restaurant before they realised that nearly all the restaurant was a surprise dinner party for them and then only when they saw their daughters Deirdre and Maebh waiting to greet them among the large gathering of present and former Fine Gael Parliamentarians did the penny drop.  The main conspirator in organising the event was PJ Sheehan’s’ charming and popular Parliamentary Assistant John Stanton who worked with the Sheehan Family in springing the surprise leading to a very successful social occasion that went on until the early hours of the following morning. The menu cover was a wedding photograph of PJ & Frances on their wedding day.  The couple were presented by Party Leader Enda Kenny with an Aerial Photograph of Goleen commissioned from Bandon Photographer John Herriott.

On Friday June 20th it was the turn of family and a few close friends to celebrate with the Golden Jubileeant’s in their native home territory. In bright evening sunshine PJ and Frances returned to the scenic and beautiful Schull in a 1964 Ford Corsaire owned and driven by John O’Driscoll of Schull.  A special Mass was celebrated for the occasion by Fr. Bernard O’Donovan P.P. in St Mary’s Church Schull at 5pm at which the couple renewed their marriage vows made 50 years earlier in the same church.. The Goleen Choir under the leadership of Tara O’Sullivan sang hymns and readings and prayers were delivered by family members all of which enriched the ceremony making it a very special and personal for the happy couple. Then it was time for photos before moving on to the Harbour View Hotel where again the menu cover with a wedding photograph of PJ & Frances on their wedding day foretold the delicious meal which followed and that in turn was followed by quiet a few witty speeches and a night of music and song and story which again went on until the early hours of the following morning.