Ballintemple girl baking to help keep community spirits high

A YOUNG girl in Ballintemple is keeping community spirits high by delivering homemade baked goods to elderly residents in the locality.

Isabelle Maguire, aged 11, has been hard at work in the kitchen creating moreish cookies, classic cakes and decadent desserts for her neighbours to enjoy.

The fifth class student in Ballintemple National School on Crab Lane started refining her baking techniques when lockdown began and suppling the finished creations to six nearby elderly residents.

“Isabelle is a child who likes to keep busy,” her mum Roz told The Echo.

“She’s also a very kind little girl.

“When lockdown started we were baking a couple of times a week and I said to her why don’t you think about baking for some of the neighbours?

“So I went off to Musgraves and stocked up on supplies as well as single use containers for best health and safety practices so people wouldn’t be worried if we were dropping food off,” Roz explained.

Conscious of adhering to the rules of lockdown and keeping people safe, Isabelle puts her baked goods in a single use container which is then placed into a brown paper bag with an attached note wishing the lucky recipient a ‘happy quarantine’.

She then rings at the neighbour’s door and leaves the parcel before standing back behind their gate.

“She was on cloud nine after dropping off the first lot of stuff,” Roz laughed.

“The reception she got from the neighbours was fantastic and it did as much for her as it did for everyone else.”

From there it was onwards and upwards for the baking protégé.

“She’s made apple tart, cupcakes, pavlova – you name it! She really is an excellent little baker.

“She amazes me with the lingo she comes out with too.

“She announced one day she was going to make a four layered cake with a crumb topping.

“She’s definitely got aspirations of being a Rachel Allen type,” Roz joked.

One resident lucky to receive regular deliveries from Isabell is Séan McCarthy who has been living in Ballintemple for more than 30 years.

He said Isabelle’s kind gesture has lifted his spirits during what has been a challenging time.

“Every week since this pandemic has started she has dropped different homemade cakes to my door. She rings the doorbell and runs back to the gate as to keep her distance and not put me at risk.

“She has been so kind to think of me as I live alone,” he said.

“I think it’s a credit to how she has been raised and what a lovely girl she is.”