My Irish Grandmother

This is my grandmother, Marguerite Theresa Bridget Carroll Corrin. She was born on March 17, 1907 in Cleveland. Yes, St Patrick's Day. Yes, both of her parents had emigrated from Ireland.  No I don't know why such good Irish Catholics didn't give their daughter born on the 17th of March Patricia as her first or middle name. 

My grandmother had a good education for a girl of the time period, finishing high school. She took a commercial course of study, learning secretarial skills, and worked as a secretary in later years.

 

 

She married my grandfather, who was also half Irish, in 1931 and they produced 3 daughters worthy of a Chekhov play or a certain Woody Allen movie.

 

As long as she lived she was the one in charge. She went her own way and did what she wished. She got a speeding ticket at the age of 82. She was going up a steep hill at the time.  Usually most people that age get ticketed for going too slow, but she was never timid. 

 

She knew all about the gifts of the Blarney Stone. She could converse well, and any time you went anywhere in public with her she always ran into someone she knew.  She was often the secretary of her various women's clubs.  She wrote in a beautiful hand, and we often had her inscribe certificates and the like for us. 

She also wrote poetry, mostly light verse, but I envied her ability to think it up so quickly and completely.  I once saw her create a poem at a baby shower in half an  hour.

 

She also had the (good) luck of the Irish.  She never went to any event that she didn't come away with a door prize. She loved bingo and card tournaments. She taught her grandchildren to play killer Rummy and Euchre, and she gave no quarter, even to 3rd graders.

 

 

As long as I can remember, St Patrick's Day was a huge deal in our family. We celebrated being Irish and we celebrated my grandmother's birthday.  An especially big event was her 84th birthday, when we threw a surprise party.

Here she is with some great grandchildren
 Note the color scheme

Her very last St Patrick's Day was my son's first. Thank goodness we took a picture.

So this St Patrick's Day we will all get together to celebrate. And we'll have a toast (Bailey's of course)for Grandma on her birthday. Because having her in our lives made us some of the luckiest  Irish around.