Julie Helen: 'A lovely end to the summer break...with vanilla ice-cream and 7up'

We are back to reality with school and routine, but not quite with a bang.

We had a lovely end to the holidays with plenty of meet-ups and catch-ups. First a message came from Mum inviting all of my Nana Lil’s great-grandchildren to visit Woodside, my home, which is situated on the farm where my grandmother spent all of her married life.

Nana died in May 2024 and she now has seven great-grandchildren; Alana, Caoilinn and Lorcán, who are my cousin Aileen’s kids, my son Ricky, Colm and Elaine’s son Peter, my nephew, my niece Katie, and the newest member Danann - who was the guest of honour at just over three months old. Danann and his parents, Diane and Fionnán, live in Australia and were on a visit home to Cork.

It was a beautiful opportunity to have everyone together. Diane and Fionnán had their wedding in Australia last year and not all of us could make the trip so it was extra special to congratulate them with their little boy in tow. The kids had a great time playing together and it reminded me so much of the mayhem and joy of us 17 grandchildren when we got together as children. I’m the eldest grandchild so I remember pretty much all the history we shared and all the births as another was added to the clan.

Amongst the next generation, I felt very lucky to be able to look back on the fun childhoods we had. 

There was generally a family in America at one point or other so we are used to a far flung element. Now we have cousins who are currently in America, Australia and South Korea and we have WhatsApp to thank for keeping us in touch.

It was particularly special to get the great-grandchildren together and I know Nana Lil would have loved it.

We all had vanilla ice cream and wafers in her honour, a staple in her house when we were growing up and a treat she could make stretch depending on the number of hungry mouths she had at her table. There was nothing like that ice cream and a glass of 7up, and as old as I am, it really doesn’t feel that long ago.

The following week, it was time for my Mum’s side of our family to convene. One family lives in London so we always have a gathering in August. This year it was extra special for me because I got to host a summer party for 20 of us, as the Campions in London hadn’t yet seen our forever home in West Cork. I was really nervous because that side of my family are born entertainers, bakers and hosts so there was a significant gauntlet thrown down. I enlisted the scrumptious help of Beano and Ginger in Clonakilty with delicious lasagna, curry and salads and it was absolutely top-notch. The bakers came through with delightful cakes and pavlova so we were sorted. Ricky loved offering drinks and being the host with the most.

I was delighted to see Mum in the middle of all her nieces laughing and joking and comfortable in my home. 

The best part of all was heading for midnight those six girls decided to do the clean-up off their own bat so the next morning my kitchen was shining and it hadn’t seemed like work.

Aoife, Áine, Anna, Cathy, Marie and Kate, thank you for being my home grown girl crew, even better than the sisters I never had. We have our boys too of course but only two of my brothers could come this time so the girls got to shine. I look forward to next year already.