Cloghan’s Paddy is 104 years young!
Having reached the ripe old age of 104 last week, Paddy Claffey may have put his set dancing days behind him, but he was still able to party with the best of them when the extended Claffey family gathered on Easter Saturday last to mark the milestone birthday of one of Cloghan's most famous sons.
Paddy, who was was born and raised in the Ferbane townland of Noggusboy, in Cloghan parish, and has lived there all his life, is still enjoying "reasonably good health" according to his son, Pat.
"In fact, he's not much different today to when he celebrated his 100th birthday," Pat adds.
The youngest of ten children born to Sarah (neé Flaherty) and Kieran Claffey in 1921, just as the War of Independence was coming to an end, Paddy Claffey is the only surviving member of his family.
A farmer all his life, he never travelled outside of Ireland and doesn't feel he has missed out on anything by staying close to home.
"He never went too far, only maybe to Dublin to the Horse Show in the RDS, and he was never on a plane or a boat any part of his life," according to his son, Pat, who along with Paddy's other children - only daughter Brid (Rooney) and son, Kieran - gathered in Killeen's in Shannonbridge with the extended family to celebrate their father's big birthday on Easter Saturday.
Paddy took the birthday party in his stride, and his son Pat told the Offaly Independent this week that his Dad "really enjoyed the party" and was delighted to be surrounded by his beloved family.
A widower for over 20 years since his devoted wife, Margaret, passed away on Christmas Day in 2004, after suffering a stroke, Paddy Claffey and his late wife were very accomplished set dancers and travelled all around the local area to set dances while rearing their family of three children in Noggusboy.
The couple's favourite dance was called the 'Gallen Set', so his family came up with the idea of reviving the complicated dance at a social night in his honour to celebrate Paddy's 103rd birthday last year!
Despite the fact that he was unable to participate himself on the night due to being confined to a wheelchair, his son Pat joked that his Dad had kept "a very close eye on the dancing and could still remember all the steps and he would be critical if we put a foot wrong," so much so that Pat joked that they arranged to put "all the good dancers right in front of him" with the less accomplished ones hiding behind!
Paddy had met his beloved wife at a dance in Ferbane shortly after she came to the West Offaly town to work as a housekeeper for the newly-appointed manager of the Bank of Ireland, and the couple enjoyed a very happy married life and prayed the Rosary every night.
Blessed with a great sense of humour, and one who was "always up for a bit of divilment", the lifelong teetotaller's mind is "still as sharp as a nut" according to Pat.
The Claffey family say they are "incredibly blessed" to still have the company of a much-adored father, grandfather and great-grandfather in their midst, and Pat says they "treasure every day" of his company.
"We know how lucky we are to still have our father at 104 years of age, who is always up for a chat, a laugh and a word of advice, so long may it continue," adds Pat.