Blarney Person of Year to be announced this Saturday

The 2025 Blarney and District Person of the Year will be announced at a ceremony at the Castle Hotel in Blarney this Saturday, January 10.

The annual awards, which are usually attended by more than 150 invited guests, are organised by local businesswoman Kate Durrant, solicitor John Henchion and, councillor Damian Boylan.

Ms Durrant said the awards aim to recognise achievement, leadership, and altruism in community, sport, business, arts, family or from any sector or activity in the local community, “so that others may be inspired to follow”.

“With so many worthy monthly winners during 2025, our panel of judges have, once again, a particularly difficult task on their hands to choose an overall winner,” she said.

Mr Boylan said that while the nominees come from a range of backgrounds, they all have one thing in common.

“Through their lives and achievements, each and every one of them has excelled in their own special way. In that regard, they are all winners,” he said.

The nominees for this year’s award include:

Tom O’Byrne, AKA the ‘Father of the Fen’; Grenagh powerhouse Bronagh Green; Brendan Murphy for his work with Blarney Meals on Wheels; Frances and Niamh Byrne; Singer and musician Anna Mitchell, who established Blarney Community Choir; Aileen Sheehan, the first female to win Ireland’s Young Farmer of the Year; Elite endurance runner Brian Mullins; All-round charity champion Deirdre Hourihan Healy; Michael Kiely who won gold in the over-80s 800m at the World Masters Indoor Championships; Joan O’Mahony and Julie Fitzgerald for their charity fundraising, and Helena Horgan, for her work in Shournagh Childcare.

The winner of last year’s Blarney and District Person of the Year award was Garda Timothy McSweeney, with John Mitchell and Bernice O’Brien being inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame.