Bridie Griffin from Kilmacthomas is today celebrating her 105th birthday.
Bridie, well-known to many across Waterford and beyond through her family’s business Griffin’s Garage, was born in 1921, a year defined by the final months of fighting in the War of Independence and the agreement of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
Bridie received a special medal and letter from President Catherine Connolly.
Born and reared on a farm in Ballingarron near Bonmahon, Bridie was the third eldest in her family which consisted of three brothers and five sisters born to parents William and Mary Anne O’Connell.
Bridie walked three miles to attend Ballinarrid National School and later went to Carrick-on-Suir as a boarder.
She married Jack Griffin (RIP) in October 1947 and the couple raised two sons, Leo and Willie, and one daughter, Marian (RIP). Bridie is grandmother to Laura, Brian, Katie and John and is also a great-grandmother.
Bridie with her husband Jack (RIP), sons Willie and Leo and daughter Marian (RIP).
In 2021, when Bridie turned 100, a socially distant celebration was held outside Griffin’s Garage at the height of Covid-19 restrictions.
As she marked her momentous 105th birthday, she spoke to WLR with her granddaughter Laura and shared some of her words of wisdom.
