My gran's life story - at 100 years old

Sheila’s Youth

SHEILA O’Regan (nee Wallace) was born on November 9, 1922, in Ballinaddig, Farran, Co. Cork, to Paddy and Philomena Wallace, who both came from Dripsey.

Sheila lived in Farran for four years until 1926, when Paddy and Philomena moved to Ballyphillip as he had taken a job with Pat Fahy’s Farm, later to become John Kelleher’s Farm. It was in 1926 that Sheila became a proud White’s Cross woman!

One of eight children, she was positioned fifth in line to her five brothers and two sisters. Molly, Kitty, Jack, Billy, Sheila, Packie, Joe and Anthony.

Her mother and father rented Fahy’s Lodge for a number of years but left Ballyphlllip briefly when Paddy went to work for the Sweetnam family. who also were farmers, located in Factory Lane in Little Island.

Paddy and Philomena and their large family returned to Ballyphillip in later years when Cork County Council built a cottage for their large family. This would be her brother Anthony Wallace’s former home.

Paddy went to work for many years for the Buckley family, another family located up by the Boothouse.

He died first, when he was 94, followed by Philomena, aged 93. Both were good living people who had great faith and were very respected in the parish.

Sheila’s School Days and Friendships

Sheila’s first school was in Glounthaune, in the location of the Rising Tide Pub. She was living in Factory Lane at the time but had to walk four miles to and from school through fields with no coats and hat. She was lucky enough to have boots and walked with her brothers and sisters every day.

Sheila liked school, she loved to listen and learn and this is why she is so full of wisdom today.

After the family moved back to Ballyphillip, she moved to Upper Glanmire National School (now the community centre) to finish her schooling up to 6th Class, she was 13 years old. Her teacher in Upper Glanmire was Mrs Shaw, who taught the mixed class.

Sheila’s friends growing up were Mary Barry, Bessie Barry, Nan Noonan and Nonie Delaney. They spent many a happy day travelling to Knocknahorgan, picking huts and small blackcurrants, playing cabby at the side of the ditch down the acre, playing piggy, four corner fool, and playing with bales of hay too.

They often went out in the morning and wouldn’t be seen till tea-time. They ate off the land while in season, wild strawberries, sloes, small crab apples, and ate small turnips raw coming home from school - she tells me they peeled the skin with their teeth.

Sheila’s first ‘disco’ was at the age of 16. She headed to the Shoot, which was based in Riverstown. It was a ceili event, she was a dinger at the Barndance, two-step, the Siege of Ennis and set dance. No rock’n’roll that time!

She frequented dance halls in Farnanes, Coachford and Mallow where Sheila and her friends would cycle to and from. There was also an outdoor platform in Farran which they all took turns to dance on and everyone would watch them, Sheila says it was like the outdoor disco of today!

Sheila’s Work Experience

At the mere age of seven, Sheila worked for Jack Keeffe, of Upper Glanmire, thinning turnips, mangles and beet. Flor Crowley was one of Jack’s worker and he used to recruit the local children for this job.

Thinning involved crawling between two drills on two knees pulling out the veg. Sheila got half a crown a drill. In later years, Jack’s wife Nora asked Sheila to leave the drills and do some housekeeping work instead.

Sheila also picked spuds for every farmer in the parish - Burkes, Murphys, Roches, Fahys, and Buckleys to name but a few.

At the mere age of 14, Sheila took her first full-time job as a housekeeper for the Strictland family who lived down in Churchhill. She got the job after her older sister Molly, who was the previous housekeeper, left.

She worked every day of the week from early morning to just after tea. There was a day for everything, one day washing, one day ironing, etc. Sheila earned five shillings a week and handed the whole lot over to her mother.

A paltry couple of bob, she says herself, and she would have made a lot more thinning vegetables but the work wasn’t there all year.

Her mother wanted the girls to do housework as she felt it was cleaner job for females.

The Strictlands were again very kind to Sheila, the lady of the house was a schoolteacher and her husband had a good job in Woodford Bourne. Sheila stayed here for two years before she moved to Long’s shop, again as a housekeeper, before moving to Fahy’s farm, again as housekeeper.

Her big move was at the age of 20 when she left Ballyphillip for the Southside! She moved lock, stock and barrel to work for the Murphy family, who were based in Farran.

This was a live-in position but Sheila felt it was the right move as she was going to earn a bit more money. She was already out there dancing at the weekend anyways so it made more sense to work and live out there.

In the later years, as Sheila’s kids grew up, she took various housekeeping positions around White’s Cross, but her favourite job was working for Kathy Kelleher, John’s wife. Her job here was helping Kathy to mind her kids and feeding the workmen, a job she was able to do while rearing her own kids.

Kathy was like a daughter to Sheila and she admired how strong and wise Kathy was. A True lady, she recalls.

Roger O’Regan, Motherhood and Family Life

Sheila met Roger O’Regan in 1942 at a dance in Coachford. She remembers going to this dance with her friend, Margaret Murphy.

Roger worked tarmacking the roads for the council and they were instantly smitten.

They courted for about a year and a half before they married in September, 1944. Sheila was 22. Roger was 16 years older than her and he was 40 years old when they married.

The couple married in Springhill Church, Glanmire. Jackie O’Regan was the groomsman and Nelly McNamara was the bridesmaid. Nelly was Sheila’s friend from Farran.

Sheila wore a coat and a frock and their wedding reception was held in her mother’s cottage in Ballyphillip.

Her mother made a reception of cake, tea, and sandwiches and it was laid out on two tables in the kitchen. They had a small drink and a sing-song.

Sheila lived in the mother’s cottage with Roger from the day they got married, but he found it hard to get work and got “browned off” and went back to Farran for work for a while. Eventually he picked up a job with Fahy’s and returned to Ballyphillip.

Eileen was born in July, 1946 ,in Sheila’s mother’s cottage. After her birth, Sheila, Roger and Eileen moved into the Lodge, just as Sheila’s mother and father had done before her. Richie and Phil were too born in the lodge.

In 1951, Cork County Council built Sheila’s house for her and Roger. The Lodge had just become too small for their expanding family.

Bernie was the first child born in the ‘new’ house in 1952 and she was born in a cawl, which was a sign of great luck for the child and family.

An old wives’ tale insists the house where a baby was born in a cawl would never go on fire! By god, that is true because Sheila LOVED the fire and how that chimney never went on fire is beyond me!

Bernie was the only child born in the cottage. The next three daughters, Kathleen, Mary and Martina were born in St Finbarr’s Hospital.

Sheila has seven children – Eileen, Richie, Phil, Bernie, Kathleen, Mary amd Martina. Sadly, Richie passed away in 2019.

Sheila has 24 grandchildren - Alan, Tracy, Lyndsey, Richella, Barry, Paul, Claire, Susan, Mark, Orla, Jason, Fiona, Aidan, Karen, Gilly, Derek, Tracy, Pamela, Elaine, Shane, Damien, Graham, Cian (RIP) & Ryan.

She has 32 great-grandchildren – Carlee, Kayla, Nicole, Ella, Luke, Molly, Owen, Robbie, Emily, Jamie, Roisin, Padraig, Cian, Aoife, PJ, Seanie, Bobby, Kelly, Max, John, Caoimhe, Nicole, Jamie, Amy, Katlyn, Leah, Killian, Jamie, Adam, Kayla, Kyle and Erin.

Sheila would never go into hospital to give birth until the very last minute. When she went in to have Mary, the child was born by the time the person who dropped her in got back to Ballyphillip. Seven days she spent in hospital, she loved the break and getting all her meals served up to her.

In 1963, the gas man was delivering a new cooker to Katie Mac and off into St Finbarr’s she went with him and had Martina a couple of hours later.

Thankfully, Sheila never lost a child and sometimes, in her later pregnancies, she never told people until she was eight months gone. She liked keeping secrets in her old age!!

Roger died aged 65 in 1971. Sheila was widowed aged 49. The oldest child Eileen was 25 and the youngest, Martina, was just eight.

Sheila lived a poor life while she was married, Roger suffered ill health and was in and out of work a lot. Rent and rates still had to be paid, there was no such thing as sick pay or anything like that.

When Roger died, she was six weeks waiting for her widow’s pension. Even though some of the older kids were working, it wasn’t enough at times to cover rent, food and bills.

Sheila shopped in Spitteres from Shandon Street, who used to do a home delivery service. But it was Inches in Barrack Street that gave Sheila food on tick for the six weeks after Roger died. Sheila paid every penny back when she got her widow’s pension. She will never forget their kindness for helping her and her family at this time.

Burke & Bradley also used to deliver food every week and you’d pay when they come to the gate! They just used to come with a van load and you’d go out and pick what you want.

Sheila only ate meat on a Sunday, she kept hens and cocks and kill the chickens but keep the cocks. She sowed all her own veg - potatoes, cabbage, turnips, carrots. She ate as much as she could off the land!

Travel and Holidays Sheila has never been on an aeroplane. Holidays were few and far between, no beach or day trips or anything like these days, but she often brought the kids to Knocknahorgan Woods, picking huts with a picnic. She went to England three times, once for Eileen’s wedding, once to visit Packie when he was sick, and another time on a holiday to see Breda, Billy and family. All these times she travelled by boat.

Sunday spins were as good as it got after that. Sheila never went to Lourdes, even though she would have liked to, but she went to Knock a couple of times. She wasn’t really a traveller, she was a lot happier at home, a home bird she is.

Great Neighbours and friends in Ballyphillip Sheila has had loads of wonderful friends over the years, who looked out for each other in the good and bad times.

One great friend was Katie Mac, who was married to Michael Mac (Katie was Roger’s sister). They lived in the back lane and moved to Hanrahan’s House. Sheila remembers her as a kind woman who would half her heart with you. She was with Sheila when Richie was born.

Another great friend is Nonie Allen who lives two houses away, Nonie and Sheila reared their kids on the road together and are the best of friends to this day. Totally different in characters, they have a special bond and connection and are life-long friends.

Nonie’s brothers Connie and Eddie Delaney and their families became great friends to Sheila and her kids.

Sheila had a soft spot for Eileen Delaney, wife of Connie, a Kerry woman with a great sense of humour. Sheila remembers Eileen fondly as a woman who would make her laugh out loud a lot, even though there were years between them, Sheila enjoyed her company immensely.

At one time, there were no other houses on her road, from John Kelleher to Donal Kelleher’s, so when someone built a house, it was very welcomed. New neighbours were great company.

Up Noonan’s lane was Nan Noonan on the left, with Mary, Bessy and Billy Barry on the right. Up Ballyphillip lane were the Kielys, Crowleys, the Harringtons and Nora Kelleher.

Willie Mahony, fondly remembered for his old tractor, was a good friend. He came from Bantry way and worked for John and Kathy Kelleher for years. He called to Sheila’s a couple of nights a week and the spoke of the old days, they were great company for each other, often Billy Coffey joined for a cuppa too!

Mick Regan, Roger’s brother, became another great friend when he lived in Ballyphillip. He will be fondly remembered for his two walking sticks, 20 majors and “oh lars”. A character who livened the whole party. Sometimes there wasn’t a seat to be got in Sheila’s kitchen!

The many lovely bits about Sheila Sheila never drank or smoked and she never owned or wore a pair of runners, even though she walked every road in White’s Cross, Ballyphillip and Rathcooney!

She had a secret crush on Bertie Ahern and was a great supporter of local FF politician Billy Kelleher.

She had thousands of visitors over the years – her first words after the greeting would be “put on the kettle”. God forbid if you didn’t have a cup.

Shelia loves her garden, loves her flower beds. She knows every variation of flower and shrub known to man, she enjoyed sitting in the garden admiring the colour, she lived on her own for many years and always felt it gave her something to do tending to them! But then Richie came along who liked the grass green and clean. Bit by bit the flower beds disappeared, but by god Richie was a dab hand at the mowing and had a lovely grass display in summer months.

Sheila loves dinners and mealtimes. She ate meat as much as she could, loved walking and dancing in her youth and still loves outdoor life. She only got the walking aid aged 95/96.

Sheila will be forever remembered for her Brown Bread, Steeping Peas, “put on the kettle”, a bowl of jelly always in the fridge, putting cream on her legs, the fire, “throw it down the Acre”, the rollers, getting her hair set by Gilly every Friday, asking “what time is dinner”, her love of animals, her love of sweet things and her love of life itself.

Sheila would agree with everything you said, if you had a sore toe, she did too, she has taken every tablet known to man and has a cure for every ailment, BUT she always diagnosed you correctly.

Sheila is truly the GREATEST OF ALL TIME. She is loved by everyone who knows her and has become a ‘surrogate’ grandmother to half the parish. She will long be remembered for her wisdom and her kind and caring nature.

Shelia’s Prayer Jesus the branch, Mary the Rose, Jesus, Mary and Joseph be with me all through the day/night.

This piece was compiled by Karen Hickey, one of Sheila’s grandaughters, following ‘chats with nan’ during 2022.