Wicklow woman celebrates her 100th birthday by dancing the day away
Wicklow People
Today at 07:11
Valerie Poulson proved the old adage 'age is nothing but a number' to be true as she celebrated her 100th birthday at Aisling House Nursing Home in Arklow with a little song and dance.
Valerie originally hails from Germany and was joined by her daughter Edith and some close personal friends on Thursday, the day of her birthday, as staff at Aisling House Nursing Home pulled out all the stops to ensure she had a most memorable day.
That morning she also received a cheque from the state and a special message from President Michael D Higgins, congratulating her on reaching such a milestone.
Jan Ali of Aisling House Nursing Home said: 'Valerie is a very elegant lady who first came to us around two years ago. She absolutely loves singing and dancing, and has a beautiful singing voice. Silent Night was originally composed in German and she sings a beautiful version in both German and English.
'We had Dave Canavan in attendance at her party playing all the residents favourite songs on his keyboard. Valerie got up to have a bit of a dance and was singing away to all the songs. She's amazing and is very popular with the other residents and all the staff.
'We also presented Valerie with a lovely birthday cake we got from Pettitt's, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. I have to thank Christy's Pub as well. They heard about our plans to hold a birthday party for Valerie, and without us even contacting them, they donated lots of food for the bash, which was an unbelievably kind gesture.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
4 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Kerry woman has triggered great interest in Irish dancing at elite English university
A Tralee woman has sparked great interest in Irish dancing in the unlikely surroundings of an elite English university.
Irish Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
From Saoirse to Aisling and Cillian to Liam, Irish names surge in popularity
Irish names are having a surge of popularity, with the likes of Caoimhe, Fiadh, Tadhg and Rian in the Top 20 every year. And some of our biggest celebrities have Irish names, such as Cillian Murphy and Saoirse Ronan. But often, Gaelic names and spellings are hard for those from elsewhere to get their tongue around. Now a new book gives the stories behind these names - and explains how to say them. Irish Baby Names: What They Mean And How To Pronounce Them, explains the provenance and pronunciation of girls names like Beibhinn, Blaithin and Croia; and ones for boys such as Turlach, Conall and Senan. Authors Feilim O'Connor, Morgan Buckley and Gavin Drea's compilation of more than 200 names is like a compendium for new parents, looking for something special. Chapters include Misprounounced Names and those from mythology and geography; as well as names from wilder times in Ireland and those that have been somewhat lost in time. Wild names include Cliodhna, which means Queen of the Banshees: "a dark, female ghost of the night in Ireland" while those from mythology include Brigid, after the goddess and member of the Tuatha De Danann. Eimear was the wife of Cu Chulainn, while Sadhbh, an ancient figure who was twice turned into a deer by a wicked druid for refusing his advances. She chose Fionn Mac Cumhaill instead, and her son Oisin's name means "little deer". Fiachra is the Irish word for raven, and one of the four children of Lir. Geographically-themed names include Gobnait, a saint who protected her abbey from a group of raiders when she unleashed bees on them. Her church can still be found on the island of Inis Oirr. Turlach refers to a lake that dries up in summer, while Iarlaith (Jarlath in English) comes from the old word "flaith" which means leader or lord. It's named after the priest who founded the monastic school of Tuam. Popular Irish names now include Alannah, which comes from the Irish word for child; Croia, which means heart; and Aisling - such as Aisling Bea - which means vision. Those of us who did Irish in school will never need a guide to pronunciation. But for those who do, the book makes it easy, with the likes of Tadhg explained as: "like Tiger, with out the R" and Caoimhin provided phonetically as "Kwee-veen". The book looks at popular Irish names today, the top names over the years and stories behind surnames. The book reads: "Irish names - they're older than the Pyramids, and they'll probably be mispronounced for another 5,000 years. "We're bringing you back before Christianity came to these shores, to rediscover Irish names from an ancient Ireland of mystery, magic and mythos. "It's the greatest gift you can give a child, whatever the future holds." The authors explain: "There are quite a few girls' names in Irish that translate to beauty and a lot of boys' names linked to bravery. "Digging a little deeper, you'll find references to the landscape, wild animals and ancient Irish sovereignty. "Throughout the annals, there are countless heroes who have kept these names alive." Lots of Irish celebrities have Irish names. Here are some, and their meanings: Aisling (Ash-ling) Means dream or vision. Cillian (Killy-in) Comes from the Irish word cillin, meaning little church. Saoirse (Seer-shuh) This has a lovely meaning behind it, standing for both liberty and craftsmanship. Liam (Lee-am) Liams are protectors. A shortened version of the old Germanic name Willhelm, which means helmet of will. From the Irish word seal (ron), Ronan translates into little seal or seal person. According to Irish legend, selkies transform into humans when they swim too close to the shore. Once human, they sometimes marry and have children, who are known as Ronans. Roisin (Roe-Sheen) This beautiful name means "little rose". In Irish mythology, the Roisin Dubh was the symbol on the robes of the Druids of Ireland, an ancient and high-ranking class who were considered godlike because of their knowledge of nature. Aidan (Ay-din) or Aodhan (Ay-dawn) Means little fire, coming from the old Irish word for fire, aodh. Aodhan Mac Gabhrain was a first-Century Celtic king. Sinead (Shin-ade) Means: "god is gracious". Colleen Part of the reason this is more popular outside Ireland than in Ireland itself is that this spelling is an Anglicisation of the word for girl - cailin. Popular with second and third generation Irish emigrants. Donnacha - or Donncha (Done-ah-kah). Means: "brown-haired warrior" and was the name of a famous High King. Irish Baby Names: What they mean and how to pronounce them by Feilim O'Connor, Morgan Buckley and Gavin Drea is published by Gill and is out now, priced €16.99. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
Irish Examiner
9 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Book review: Light touch always present in a story that is about love, pure and simple
Seán Hewitt's debut novel Open, Heaven is a queer coming-of-age novel set in a northern English village in 2002. Hewitt conveys the emotional intensity of late childhood and adolescence so well. The teeming excitement at your sexuality ascertaining itself, the uncertainty of launching yourself forward as an individual, of wondering what the shape of you might be. We first encounter James returning to the village where he grew up, considering buying an old farmhouse. As he looks around, he is brought back to a formative summer. Surely, we all have one. 'Time runs faster backwards. The years-long, arduous, and uncertain when taken by one, unspool quickly, turning liquid, so one summer becomes a shimmering light that, almost as soon as it appears in the mind is subsumed into a dark winter, a relapse of blackness that flashes to reveal a face, a fireside, a snow-encrusted garden.' This novel reminds me of Edmund White's iconic A Boy's Own Story in that both protagonists look back and explore the loneliness of queer adolescence, the feeling of being outside the swim. Yet, most of us can identify with that early grappling for identity. The wanting to be wanted. 'I could smell the heat off him, could almost taste him in my mouth. I was trapped there, part resentment, part pure pleasure, so close to him, so close to his power, that for a split second I thought perhaps he wanted me to kiss him.' Open, Heaven is a more innocent book than White's A Boy's Own Story. Sixteen-year-old James is a gentle, shy boy who loves his family, yet he often feels smothered by them. Hewitt draws the son's attempt to break away from the mother figure particularly well, his stiffening in public when she embraces him. In White's novel he viscerally charts the self-loathing of the queer boy who in the 1950s wanted to be loved by men and to love them back but not to be 'homosexual'. James in Open, Heaven does not share that fear, and there is a limited measure of societal progress. James comes out to a family who are gently supportive, although the attitude of his schoolmates remains challenging. While the self-loathing is happily absent, there is still that sense of being cut loose and alone. He is effectively ostracised because of the outside world's persistent homophobia. James must navigate his queerness in a predominantly straight world. Into his life comes gorgeous Luke, who becomes the lightning rod for his desires. Luke's sexuality remains ambiguous. James brings him a page from a porn magazine hoping that Luke might think of him as a girl. Luke is a troubled magnetic boy with an absent mother and a father in prison. Adults perceive him as a troublemaker. And so, we see two outsiders draw close. The backdrop to the book is, if not economic deprivation, quiet rural poverty and the struggle to make a living. It occurs to James that his family may not be able to afford to turn on the heating, and he faces a two-hour walk to school. The novel is not laden down by plot. I personally enjoyed the focus on the interiority of the protagonist's life. A profoundly moving bond forms between the boys. The ending had me almost reaching for a tissue because it is about love, plain and simple. This is never a dark book because the light touch is always there, and it is the better for it. How exhausting it must be for queer adolescents to so often see themselves depicted on the page as only tortured and struggling. Hewitt's debut poetry collection, Tongues of Fire, was published in 2020 to much fanfare. Since then, he has produced a book a year. He is also an assistant professor in literary practice at Trinity College Dublin and a darling of the critics. Born in England to an Irish mother and an English father, his sensibility feels midway between both cultures. Open, Heaven is written with lyrical delicacy, featuring beautiful Hardyesque descriptions of nature with an intimate tone. Hewitt is a poet at heart, and it leaps from the page. 'And then across the village, there came the high metallic notes of the church bells pealing, as if the sound, as if time itself, were being pulled upwards, brightly, into the sky.' I couldn't recommend it more.
