'It's a shame there's no place for older people to meet up in Killeigh'

As part of its efforts to highlight the need for a new community centre on the site of the old Macra Hall in Killeigh, the development committee has been putting together profiles of local people. MICK FEERY is the latest person to be featured.

"I was born in 1970, in Marian Place, Tullamore. It had over 100 houses, and there must have easily been over 100 kids on the street! My parents were Michael (Mickey) Feery and Annie Feery (nee Doyle).

Ma was originally from Edenderry, and came from a big family. Dad was a Tullamore man with a family history that goes back hundreds of years. There was six of us in the family, two lads and four girls. Joe was the oldest, Annemarie, Geraldine, myself, Rita and Lorraine; a busy house. Mammy was a great cook; my favourite meal was and still is to this day, her Colcannon with two runny eggs on top; you couldn't beat it!

Growing up in Marian Place, there was always plenty to do. We would be out on the street, kicking football, playing rounders, or we'd head up to Charleville and rob a few orchards on the way home!

One day I went down to play with my sister and friend at the bank of the river and I fell in. I was only four or five at the time. My sister had to run all the way home and tell my parents. The whole street came running. A local man, John Berry, was coming out of work at the time (Salts) and jumped in and grabbed me. Only for him, I wouldn't be here today.

My school holidays were spent playing a lot of sports; soccer, GAA, rugby and I was always on the run in and out the door between matches and training. Ma used to bring us, along with a few other kids from the street, down to Galway for the day on the train and treat us. How she managed to keep an eye on all of us, I'll never know! Being from the Midlands, it was great to see the sea, even if only for the day.

One year, Dad won a turkey for Christmas and me and my sister, Geraldine, had to go up and collect it from the Mallet Tavern Pub. At the time, we were only seven or eight and had to drag this big 20lb turkey all the way home - sure there was nothing left of the Christmas dinner by the time we got home! We still laugh about that to this day.

I married Majella in 1992 and we have two kids, Charlotte and Michael. After getting married, we lived in Tullamore for seven years before building in Killeenmore in 1999. It was the ideal spot. Majella's from Rosenallis, so we settled between the two. It wasn't long before we settled into bringing the kids up to join the local soccer club, Killeigh School Boys and Girls. Before long, I was handed a few water bottles and cones and told I was a coach. It was, and still is, a great club.

Through the involvement in the club, we've made great friends and met so many people down through the years. Frank McEvoy, a blow-in like myself, and my cousin, Ollie, who is Chairman, and his brother, are all there many years putting in great work.

It's Frank who keeps us all moving and is a fantastic driving force behind the club. He's there every Saturday running around with the Cubs - they have a great time, I don't know who enjoys it more, the Cubs or Frank! We play our games in The Pond in Lockclose but are building a bigger and better facility in Derrybeg. It's great to see the success of the club grow, and long may it continue.

I'm in An Post over 20 years and covered local postman, Joe Plunkett, when he was on holidays. Joe along with his late wife, Brigid, used to run the post office in the village before it closed in 2016. I remember training with Joe, and Brigid putting on the fry every morning. She was a lovely woman, a true lady and is sadly missed by everyone in Killeigh.

Doing the post in Killeigh and Killurin area for many years, I got to know all the older folks and loved the chats. Since I've been living in the area, there's been no place for them to meet up and socialise which is such a shame. I think it'd be great if the senior citizens and everybody in the area had somewhere in the village to meet up for bingo, and different social occasions. I don't remember the Macra Hall, but you'd hear great stories about it.

In autumn 2018, I took over as chairman of the Senior Citizens Committee from PJ Kinnarney who had been chairman for 46 years and did great work along with his fellow committee members. I'm lucky to have a great bunch on people on the current committee helping me to continue the tradition of the Christmas Party.

With funds running low, the first thing we did was approach local clubs and businesses and I couldn't believe the response we got. We even set up a Go Fund Me page!

The Christmas Party is part of Killeigh and it was great to see the locals ensure that there was enough money so that the 2018 party could go ahead. The following year, over 150 older folks from the local area attended the party, and it really is a special event. Unfortunately, due to Covid, we couldn't have our party in 2020 but we'll hopefully be back celebrating soon.

To have a new community centre in Killeigh would be great and hopefully, in the near future the Senior Citizens Christmas Party will be held in the village. I wish the committee all the best."

* To support the latest fundraiser for the new Killeigh Community Centre, please visit: www.winahouseinenfield.com and to find out more about the project check here