‘Cork needs more people like Kathy Barry’: Local waitress praised for vigilance over elderly customer 

The local waitress raised an alarm with emergency services following the sudden disappearance of a regular customer.
‘Cork needs more people like Kathy Barry’: Local waitress praised for vigilance over elderly customer 

Waitress at Kelly’s Restaurant, Kathy Barry, who raised the alarm with local gardaí regarding a missing customer, who was a regular at the restaurant.

Advocate for the elderly in Cork, Paddy O’Brien, is calling for people to “be more vigilant” in relation to the care of the elderly after a local waitress raised an alarm with emergency services following the sudden disappearance of a regular customer.

Mr O’Brien told The Echo that he was contacted by Sergeant Brendan Moroney of the Bridewell Garda Station last week, regarding the disappearance of the woman.

“I was contacted last week by Sergeant Moroney because a lady contacted him to tell him she was a waitress [in Cork] and that one particular elderly person, who came every day for lunch, had been missing for some time,” said Mr O’Brien.

“The sergeant gave me the name of the waitress, Kathy Barry, and said that she was working at Kelly’s Restaurant on Oliver Plunkett St.

“I made contact with Kathy and she explained to me that the lady had been coming to lunch for years, and she was friendly with her, but all she knew was that she was 80 years of age and lived in Madden’s Buildings [in Blackpool].

“I personally went to Madden’s Buildings and knocked on quite a few of the doors — but regrettably, nobody knew her,” he added.

Mr O’Brien then contacted the Blackpool Community Association and discussed the issue with them.

“Thankfully they came back to me and were able to locate the lady, so I went to visit her,” said Mr O’Brien.

“I told her that people were worried about her, especially Kathy. She explained that she hasn’t been feeling well, but is looking forward to going back [to Kelly’s Restaurant].

“I contacted Kathy to tell her the good news, and I told her that it was a great and wonderful thing to do.

“This sends out a strong message. We must all be more vigilant in relation to the care of the elderly.

“In Madden’s Buildings, some years back, a man was found, having been dead for several weeks, and we don’t want a repetition of that tragedy. 

“Cork needs more people like Kathy Barry.”

Ms Barry told The Echo that she raised the alarm as she was concerned for the wellbeing of the woman, whom she had not seen in some time.

“She’s a lovely woman, I’ve known her for a while,” said Ms Barry.

“Out in Mallow, where I live, I think it was last year or the year before, there was a man who all the neighbours had thought had gone away to England, and hadn’t been seen for years, so the council came in and boarded up the house, but when they opened it up again, they found his body.

“I wouldn’t want that to happen [again], and [I wanted] to see if she was all right, or if she had gone into a home.

“I went into the gardaí, and told them that one of our regular customers hadn’t been around for a while and I wanted to see if they could find out if she was alive.

“They asked me how I thought they could go about that, so I gave them Paddy O’Brien’s name.

“I’m delighted she’s been found. Paddy did all the footwork — I just saw her as a person who I hadn’t seen in a while and I wanted to find a way to see if she was alright.

“When you see a person around a lot, and then you don’t see them, you sort of ask yourself what happened here and you go find out — just to see if they need any help or any craic like that, because that’s what we can try and do anyways at least.”

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