The balloons are up, the tea is drawn and a large birthday cake is about to be rolled in. The dining room of the Harcourt Home is packed with the friends and family of Nelly Callaghan, who celebrated her 100th birthday during the week. First up to the mike is Harold Senior, an elder of the Irishtown Gospel Hall Brethren, of which Callaghan is a long-standing member. "She has indeed in life proved that she is an almighty soldier". Hear, hear.
The home's matron, Jane Glover, says she's "a pleasure" to look after. Her younger friends, Mary Miller (85), a retired captain in the Salvation Army, and Harriet Watts (88), who came to Dublin from Edinburgh in 1935, are ready to party. Maybe they'll give her the bumps later on.
The birthday girl's youngest brother, Ernie Callaghan, a former motor cycle agent, is here from Johnstown in Co Kildare, with his wife, Helen Callaghan (who made the cake). Also among the centenarian's relations are three of her nieces: Elaine Cardy with her son, Ramsey Cardy; Shirley O'Kelly with daughter, Danielle O'Kelly; and Hilary Dempsey with her son, Mark Dempsey.
The woman herself, who never married although she "got the chance", wipes a tear from her eye now and then. She feels "grand". It's an emotional day. Then pointing a finger at The Irish Times photographer, she says she knew his parents. "I remember the day he was born," she says looking at him accusingly. And David Sleator looks as pleased as punch.
