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Mary Buckley of Rathcoole, Mallow, Co Cork, sent a heartfelt letter to Irish Country Living that brought a tear to the eye. Her daughter Audrey O’Sullivan, a primary school teacher at Ballyhass National School, is mum to two small boys, Donncha and Conor. Doctors believe the brothers, aged five and two, have Global Developmental Delay (GDD), a condition which means they experience delays in the development of their language, vision, movement, emotional and cognitive skills. It can happen for a variety of reasons, though often no cause is found.
The boys require around-the-clock care as they cannot speak, and Conor cannot walk. They need help with eating and their condition means they can get frustrated easily. Audrey job-shares at her school, working a two- and three-day fortnight. Mary minds the boys on those days and it is demanding, but the proud grandmother is quick to celebrate how affectionate and handsome her grandchildren are. But, of course, as it would be for any parent, it is difficult to look on as Audrey and her husband Denis work so hard to care for their boys, and to see how much they will have to overcome for the rest of their lives.
“With trips to Cork University Hospital, the Mercy Hospital and now Crumlin, Dublin, it’s a full-time job minding the boys. Thankfully, our arrangement works, with me minding the boys on the days she is working. But it breaks my heart that I cannot fix this for my daughter,” Mary says. “She is the best mother in the world and you would never hear her complain.”
So, to make this a Mother’s Day for Audrey and Mary to remember, we rallied the troops and headed to Killarney for an extra special makeover. Audrey has a family wedding in the summer and we knew we would able to help her find the perfect outfit with help from the talented ladies at MacBees of Killarney. Finishing off the looks with some comfortable but fabulous finds from Walsh Brothers Shoes, we whisked Mary and Audrey off to Sean Taaffe’s for a fun hair and makeup makeover. With Audrey getting a head of cascading curls to show off her unbelievable natural colour, and Mary getting a sleek blowdry, we headed to The Malton, Killarney, where the ladies turned heads as they posed for our photographer.
“I never go shopping for myself. My husband even got me a voucher for Christmas with specific instructions to buy myself new clothes as all of our shopping is for the boys,” Audrey says. “I always wear black and dress quite casually for school. Then when I’m shopping I’m just constantly trying to think practically about whether the boys could get something messy,” she explains.
Audrey felt the looks we chose for her made her look as young as she feels and flattered her impressive figure. Mary was hesitant to swap her usual black and navy for a brighter colour palette, but was impressed by how much difference a warmer hue made to her appearance. Most importantly, the ladies enjoyed their much-deserved day of pampering. But, of course, after all that me-time, they couldn’t help but look forward to heading back to their handsome little men at home.
With special thanks to:
• MacBees Fashion Boutique
• Sean Taaffe Hair and Beauty
• Walsh Brothers Shoes
• The Malton Hotel
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