Love at first earthquake: how the world shook for Kate and John in Peru

While stranded in Cusco, Peru, for two weeks after a magnitude eight quake, Kate and John bumped into each other quite a lot, writes Rowena Walsh

John Keeley, who was born in Cusco, Peru, and brought up in Ballina, Co Mayo, met his wife Kate originally from Yorkshire, while they were both travelling in Peru. Picture: Moya Nolan

If it wasn’t for an earthquake in Peru, Kate and John Keeley may never have met.

It was 2007, Kate and two friends were travelling around the world for nine months. They had just completed the Inca Trail and were staying in an Irish-run hostel in Cusco in south-eastern Peru.

Then the earth moved.

Kate was having a lie-in while her friend Katherine went for breakfast. There, Katherine met John, who was born in Peru but had moved to Ireland at the age of three when he and his brother were adopted.

Kate had planned to stay in Cusco for a night or two, but the magnitude eight quake left her stranded in the city for a fortnight. John says that they bumped into each other quite a lot over those two weeks.

John Keeley who was born in Cusco, Peru and brought up in Ballina Co. Mayo, with his wife Kate originally from Yorkshire, at home in Skerries Co. Dublin with their children William 3, and Matthew 13 months.

John had just finished working on a contract in Galway and wanted to explore the continent of his birth. Although he had been back to Peru a couple of times with his family, who had settled in Mayo, he wanted to see the country on his own.

His parents had originally visited Peru in early 1984 and they fell in love with the country. “My mother’s sister was a Bon Secours sister and she set up the Order in Lima.” 

It was through her that his father, a teacher, and his mother, a nurse, were introduced to the local orphanage. “I was two when they met me,” says John, “and we came over on November 19, 1984, so I would have just been three moving to the West of Ireland.” 

Kate and her friends moved on to Bolivia and, after several emails, John followed them to La Paz. They already knew that they really liked each other, as did Kate’s friends.

From the Bolivian capital, they went on a rainforest trail together. “It was a crazy 20-hour bus journey to get to the base camp,” says Kate. “The woman sitting beside John was feeding her chickens and the driver had to stop to feed calves in the baggage area on the way.” 

John Keeley who was born in Cusco, Peru and brought up in Ballina Co. Mayo, with his wife Kate originally from Yorkshire, at home in Skerries Co. Dublin.

Kate then went to Brazil and Uruguay and met John again in Buenos Aires. It was a brief rendezvous, but worth the 84-hour bus journey John had to endure afterwards to travel home.

Kate got back to Yorkshire on December 4, while John returned to Ireland a few days later. It was only a few weeks before the two were reunited when Kate visited John in his family home just after Christmas. They celebrated the new year in Lahinch and then they returned to England together to visit Kate’s family.

“He was petrified on the flight,” says Kate. 

But John soon got over his nerves and the two travelled back and forth across the Irish Sea until Kate made a decision that would change their lives forever.

“We decided,” says Kate, “that if I didn’t get a permanent job, I’d move over to Ireland.” 

She admits that she didn’t look too hard and on January 3, 2009, she took the plunge.

They moved in together straight away to a house share with two others before renting their own apartment in the capital.

John Keeley who was born in Cusco, Peru and brought up in Ballina Co. Mayo, with his wife Kate originally from Yorkshire, at home in Skerries Co. Dublin with their children William 3, and Matthew 13 months.

A couple of fun-filled years followed and, in October 2012, John proposed to Kate on Bull Island with her grandmother’s ring. He had asked her father’s permission the last time they had visited Yorkshire.

That trip had actually taken place a good few weeks before and Kate says her parents had started to think that John had changed his mind. 

They got married a little over a year later, in November 2013, in Rathsallagh House in Co Wicklow. Kate’s extended family, including her 80-something grandma, travelled over for the celebration. 

They went backpacking in Central America on their honeymoon the following February.

Later that year, it was time for the couple to take on a new project when they bought a cottage in the bustling heart of Skerries in north county Dublin. “I didn’t see the potential in our house,” says John, “but Kate did.” 

John Keeley who was born in Cusco, Peru and brought up in Ballina Co. Mayo, with his wife Kate originally from Yorkshire, at home in Skerries Co. Dublin with their children William 3, and Matthew 13 months.

In 2017, their son William was born and his baby brother, Matthew, arrived two years later.

Kate’s parents come to Skerries regularly, although Covid has curtailed their usual visits. She says that her parents still haven’t got over her move across the Irish Sea. 

“The last time we discussed it, they said it was one of the hardest things they had to face,” says John. 

“My mum hated it when I was away travelling,” says Kate, “and I think me moving over here was even worse.” 

John and Kate’s feet remain itchy though, and Borneo and Fiji are definite destinations on the bucket list.