Selfless supergran Nora puts family first

A Galway woman who has won the Grandparent of the Year is so modest she says she can’t honestly say why or how she beat off the competition.

But if Nora Fahy (known to everyone as Nonie) from Rahoon doesn’t know, her eldest daughter, Jennifer Ainsworth who nominated her, says she couldn’t cope without her. In fact, Jennifer says that having her third child wouldn’t have been possible without “Nana’s help”.In fact Nonie single-handedly minded her two grandchildren while her daughter needed complete bed rest during the last pregnancy over two years ago.

And she continues that hands-on help as Jennifer recovers from the condition that led to her having troubled pregnancies. Every week day she is at her daughter’s house in Knocknacarra while her own husband, Martin, a retired army man, keeps house at home in Rahoon, where they reared their three children.

You could say that Nonie, who was reared in Shantalla, has cared for or minded someone since she was a child. Her father, Patrick Collins was blind and when she finished national school she left full-time education at the age of 12 to look after him.

“I didn’t mind leaving school. We didn’t expect to continue our education in those days and anyway, I wanted to marry and have a big family. I married my first love but we only had three children so I’m not surprised that Jennifer, like me, wanted a big family too.

“As the children got older, I did a bit of childminding so I have cared for children for as long as I remember. But funnily enough, I was more nervous with my own grandchildren when they were babies than I was with the babies I used to mind,” says Nonie.

Nonie adores her grandchildren – her eldest one, Odin Patrick (9) lives in Boston – and she admits herself that she prefers children to adults.

“We used to go to Boston a few times a year when he was younger but then the flights got too expensive and then Jennifer got married and started her family. Martin and myself might stay in Boston with our son Gordon up to two months at a time. . . we loved it and I wouldn’t mind going again.”

But for now, Nonie is minding her Galway grandchildren, Adam (7), Ailish (4) and Ailbhe (2) whose mum is still in severe pain and unable to run her busy household – husband John is in the army.

Obviously, Nonie gets on very well with her daughter to spend so much time with her and she has oodles of patience with the little ones.“Yes, I had patience with my own as well. I spent a lot of time with them, we did everything with them. My husband would even walk them to and from the disco. My own parents were very strict. They were from the country (Claregalway) and didn’t let us hang around on the streets. You could say we were close and we are very family orientated.”

Nonie got a shock when she heard from Jennifer that she had been nominated and shortlisted for the SMA sponsored Grandparent of the Year award and and would have to attend an event in Dublin.In fact, Jennifer herself had nearly forgot she had nominated her mother!

It happened Jennifer was up in the middle of the night because of her pain. She was online and clicked on a mother and baby website to nominate her but then practically forgot all about it until she got notification that Nonie had been shortlisted. Jennifer had severe pelvic problems during her second and third pregnancies and claims that her toddler would never have been born without her mother.

Jennifer explains: “I had always wanted a big family and I have already lost two babies so we wanted to go for a third but we had to consult with my mother because without her support, we couldn’t do it. It’s not many people who can say they couldn’t have had their baby without their mother!”

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.