Friends are plentiful, but best friends are truly rare. That is why Irish Country Living, in conjunction with Fisherman’s Friend sifted through countless entries from all over the country in the search for Ireland’s greatest friendship – and we can now reveal the competition’s winner and runner-up.

Winner Michael and Mick

The winner of the Ireland’s greatest friendship competition and the €750 Blue Book voucher is Michael Fitzgerald and his best friend Mick Moore.

The two men met when they moved into the same housing estate in Rathwire Village, Co Westmeath, a week apart almost 40 years ago. They have been next-door neighbours ever since, raising children of similar ages simultaneously. Their youngest daughters were in the same class at school and are great friends also.

“His house is attached on to my house. When Mick comes in, he just walks in, you know that sort of way,” laughs Michael. “Mick would come in the door and say: ‘It’s me.’ That’s all you would hear out of him. There would be no knock or anything like that, if he’s been coming for 40 years he’s not going to knock now.”

Mick is a really helpful friend, explains Micheal. He is good at fixing things and the pair are always helping each other out, including the time Mick assisted Michael in constructing his shed. “You would never be stuck with Mick. He’s always tricking around with different things: cars, lawnmowers and different bits.

“If Mick’s car wasn’t going, I’d bring him to the shop or, if it was the other way around, he would bring me to the shop. He’s an easy-going chap, to be fair on him. As I say, you would never be stuck with Mick, he’d do anything for anyone, not just me.”

Runner up

The seven sisters

Kathleen O’Shea and her best friends are the runners-up in the Ireland’s greatest friendship competition and will receive a €250 Blue Book voucher. Her best friends are her sisters: Mary, Anne, Sheila, Bridie, Theresa and her twin Phil. They all grew up together on their family’s farm in Kildare.

“My mother came from Kilkenny and married a Kildare farmer, so we grew up there,” explains Kathleen. “We all went our separate ways after that. I’m the only one who came west of the Shannon. I have three sisters in Wicklow, one in Kildare, one in Laois, one in Dublin, and I’m here in Roscommon.

“Growing up we were extremely close as a family. We idolised each other and the big ones reared the small ones. We had a wonderful life. My mother was an outstanding person, she said that she had her God, a husband who loved her and what more could she need.”

Upon moving to Roscommon, Kathleen says that she missed her family and her native county very much, but would not change a thing: “I missed them beyond all words, I missed everything about Kildare, because Kildare is a wonderful county, but I embraced a new culture, a new life and I’m as happy as Larry here.

“Because both our parents are dead, once a year the seven of us go away. Normally we go to Laois, Carlow or Dublin, but this year, for the first year ever, I’m bringing them all to Galway. That’s why I wanted the Blue Book voucher, I want to bring them to Glenlo Abbey for afternoon tea. It’s absolutely magical,” enthuses Kathleen.

Despite the different paths the sisters have travelled, in essence they are still the same: “We all look very alike because we all have auburn hair and we all grew up in the same environment. Then as adults we all live our own lives and have different interests, but behind it all we are very alike. My children always say it’s extraordinary how alike we are.”