How I Met My Partner: From first date woe to happy marriage for 'model' Cork couple Manus and Betty

BEING stood up by the woman of your dreams would leave even the most hopeless romantics among us disillusioned about love.

However, Manus O’Callaghan — who would later go on to found the Cork Person of the Year awards — is not your average Cork man.

His smooth and unflappable nature may well be what won over his now wife Betty several decades ago.

“Whether she really did have a reason is still a point of debate to this day,” Ballincollig man Manus said of their first date.

Luckily, the pair can now laugh about the incident.

“Young people did things like that back then,” Manus explained.

He cast his mind back to the evening they were due to meet, after Manus asked Betty out at the Stardust Ballroom.

“I was 21 at the time and Betty was 18 months younger. I approached her in the traditional way at the Stardust Ballroom on Grand Parade. We had arranged a date, but Betty was nowhere to be seen.”

In a bizarre twist, Betty had sent a friend in her place.

“Betty sent along a friend to tell me that she had an appointment and wouldn’t be able to make it. That was common enough in those days. We weren’t serious or formal so it didn’t really bother me.”

Fortunately, Manus didn’t give up and the pair rearranged for another day.

“Back then, there wasn’t much money. You could buy a single cigarette and a single match. We bought one each and went for a walk and that was our first proper date. Everyone smoked back then because they didn’t realise how harmful cigarettes were to your health. Doctors used to advertise them, so they were very different times. I can remember not enjoying smoking that much because of the pain it gave me in my head.”

MODEL COUPLE

He recalled the qualities that attracted him to Betty.

“Betty was very good looking and a lot of fun. She did some modelling in those days and often did jobs for the advertising agency where I worked.”

Manus was very supportive of Betty’s modelling and even managed to get in on the action.

“We were often modelling together in a free sheet called the Cork Advertiser. We were photographed in lots of different scenarios. Betty and I might be pictured as a happy couple picking out tables and chairs in a furniture store or a happy couple choosing rings in a jewellery shop. It was a lot of fun.”

The couple never succumbed to societal pressures.

“Betty and I were going out for 10 years before we got married.

“We never liked rushing into anything. There was no pressure on us to get married. It was easier for couples at the time because it was far less difficult to get mortgages and renting was more acceptable.”

Manus’s proposal all started with a practical joke.

“As a joke, I asked Betty’s father for her hand in marriage. However, it turned into the third degree and he was asking me about my prospects. I quickly found myself being grilled.”

He decided it was as good a time as any to take the plunge.

“Large weddings were very popular at the time but we decided to have a small one.”

The pair went on to have three children — Kate, Manus Jr, and Emer who tragically passed away at 18 months old. Kate is now working with Greenpeace in Australia while Manus Jr works in finance in New York.

“We are very proud of them because they are both doing exactly what they wanted to be doing in life.”

Manus let the Echo in on the secret to his and Betty’s happy marriage.

“It’s all about respecting each other and being good friends.

“Old-fashioned values are also important and, above all, agreeing with everything she says!”