Love at first sight for Peter when he saw Celine at Jazz

PETER Horgan from Blackrock and North Cork native Celine describe the touching story behind how they met to Sarah Horgan as part of this week’s How I Met My Partner.

Cork man Peter has been a fan of the Cork Jazz Festival for as long as he can remember.

Nonetheless, it was music of the heart that led him to meet his now wife Celine.

Fast forward almost 12 years and the inseparable couple couldn’t be happier. Charlie (4) and Theo (18 months) are able to share in that joy as they join their parents on countless adventures.

The years leading up to their marriage have been eventful to say the least. Peter, who works as a parliamentary assistant to TD Seán Sherlock (Labour) and lives with his wife and kids in Maryborough, still remembers the day their love story began.

Celine, who has carved a successful career in the trading software industry, had been attempting to gain access to the bar in the Metropole Hotel when she captured the attention of a stranger in her eye line.

It was the weekend of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival 2011 and the atmosphere was electric.

“We met at the jazz and I was trying to get a drink,” Celine explained. “It was my round and I was really struggling at the bar as I’m quite short. A guy standing near me ended up buying a drink with a tenner I gave him because it was taking me so long to get served. 

"That was when Peter came over and asked me if I was okay. He was wearing this paisley shirt that really stood out. They came in to fashion a few years later. I didn’t realise back then that he had actually been ahead of his time.”

Former journalist Peter described the ‘love at first sight’ moment.

“Of course, the first thing I noticed about Celine was that she was very pretty. 

"She has an aura about her and I could tell straight away that she was great craic.”

Celine chipped in.

“We went to McDonalds afterward,” she told The Echo. “I was living in Dublin at the time but had friends I was staying with who were renting a house in Blackpool.”

Peter was desperate to make a decent impression.

“I don’t think we ate anything that night. I was very conscious that I wanted to impress Celine so the last thing I wanted to do was eat chips in front of her.”

He mustered up the courage to ask Celine for her number.

“That was the Friday and we met up on the Monday. I wanted to take her to Tribes but it was only when we got there that I realised it had closed down. We went to the Old Oak in the end which was also really nice.”

Celine wasn’t fazed by the prospect of a long-distance relationship.

“Even though I was preparing to go to France in a few months I felt there was something special between us.”

Convinced she was “the one”, Peter said he was willing to wait for Celine. 

“I loved his text messages,” Celine said. “He was a great communicator and very chatty. I think this is the key to success when it comes to long-distance relationships.”

He popped the question to Celine just a couple of years later.

“The proposal was initially meant to happen on April 1,” Peter said. 

“However, I was afraid that Celine might think it was an April Fool’s joke so I changed it to April 2. We had arranged to go back to the ballroom of the Imperial where we met. 

"I told her that I had been tasked with organising a party conference there. I wanted to keep the proposal as simple as possible. Celine is very sharp and inquisitive so I knew that just getting her out the door without suspecting a ring would be an achievement in itself.”

The pair were married at St Mary’s Church in Mallow in 2017, where Celine’s parents also wed.

In the years that followed Celine gave birth to their two children, Charlie (four) and Theo (18 months).

“It does make you feel more like a team,” Celine said of having children.

They described how working from home during the pandemic allowed them to relish every moment of being new parents.

Peter recalled one particularly special moment.

“Charlie would be sitting on my foot while I was sending emails,” he said. 

“I’ll never forget how he touched my knee and pulled himself up to stand for the first time. It was an amazing moment that I would have missed out on had I not been working from home.”

He listed what makes their relationship work.

“We both have a very dark sense of humour which I think helps. If something bad happens we just roll with it and make it work. I think what I love most about Celine is her general enthusiasm. She is always so open to life and doing new things. She even gets excited about the really small things. We recently went to Leahy’s Farm and she got really into it and enjoyed the experience so much.”

Peter emphasised the importance of a healthy work/life balance in a relationship.

“Politics is changing. The work is more flexible so you can manage childcare that little bit better. If there is a meeting at 7pm that I can’t attend because it’s bedtime and this doesn’t work for other people then I just have to accept this. Family always comes first.”