A SHAWS Road woman has celebrated her 100th birthday surrounded by her family.
Sitting among the many flowers she received on her big day, Brenda Quinn said the secret to reaching her 100 year milestone was God and keeping herself busy.
Brenda with her six children
“I think God has a good hand in it and I was never sitting down. My husband used to say to me, ‘Brenda you make me tired looking at you! You’re always up there fixing one thing or another, you’re never resting!’ You’ve got to keep going. Once you stop, everything stops!”
To celebrate the big day Brenda’s family put together a book on her life with pictures from her childhood, to her dancing days when she lived in Leeds, to meeting her husband Frank and having her family.
“I was born in Ligoniel but I went to England when I was 15 because my mother’s brothers were there and I had taken ill. My mother thought it would be good for me to go there for a change of environment. I was there for about five years and I used to come home now and then and all the boys would come up from Ardoyne after us girls and we’d have great craic.
“I met Frank when I came home and the two of us worked for the same firm. I worked for a man called Sir Henry Price in Leeds who was a tailor and he brought about the 50 shilling suits or 50 bob suits [later known as John Collier’s]. When I moved back to Belfast, Frank worked for the same firm. He was a friend of my cousins and he was a real gentleman, there’s no two ways about it.”
Brenda with her great-grandchildren
Brenda was also the President of Falls Bowling Club for many years and loves animals, particularly her parrot Chico and her Yorkshire Terrier Scamp who were featured in the book her family made for her.
Showing me the book Brenda recollected: “I was President of Falls Bowling Club. I was invited there in the 1950s and I loved my time at Fruithill. They have also put in pictures of my parrot Chico and dog Scamp. When Chico used to do something bad like peck at the wood in the house Scamp would come running in to tell me all about what he was doing!”
Brenda surrounded by her family who celebrated her 100 birthday with her
Speaking about her big day being surrounded by family and friends, Brenda said she was having a wonderful day and praised her family.
“I do not know what I would do without them, I couldn’t do without them. They always keep me right and make sure I don’t have to worry about anything, they are so good and generous and today I’ve had the best menu in Belfast. Everyone brought over something they made and I had a bit of the best of everything.”
