Mum of the Year ‘just doing what every mother does’

A WOMAN who was pregnant with her fifth child when her husband died from cancer has been named Mum of the Year.

Maureen McCarthy, 71, from Togher, Cork, was chosen from hundreds of mothers from all over Ireland for this year’s Woman’s Way Bosch Mum of the Year Awards.

Maureen, also the Munster winner, had to wipe away tears of joy before smiling for the cameras with Health Minister Mary Harney, who hosted the event at Dublin Castle.

“I was just doing what every mother does. I never figured I was doing anything special,” she said afterwards.

Woman’s Way publisher and chair of the judging panel Norah Casey described Maureen as an exceptional winner.

“Despite hardships in her life she faced every task with absolute good humour,” she said.

Maureen said she was “over the moon” when her daughter Tracy Ryan first told her she was nominating her for this year’s Woman’s Way Bosch Mum of the Year Awards.

Tracy showed her the letter she had written about her for the competition and told her she had emailed it to the rest of the family for their approval.

“I could not believe that they thought that much about me,” said Maureen yesterday.

Times were often hard for Maureen. She still looks after one of her daughters, who is mentally disabled.

“I would never let them know money was tight. As far as I was concerned, if a child thinks her mam has no money, she will feel a lesser person.

“But if she thinks her mother has money she feels as good as anybody else.”

Even when life was difficult, Maureen was always concerned for those less fortunate than herself and is still involved in charity work in her community.

She distributes meals for St Vincent de Paul, raised funds for the Special Olympics and spends time every month with the Faith and Light group organising enjoyable activities for disabled children.

Maureen has seven grandchildren — one in San Francisco, one in New York, two in Australia and three in Cork — and was always there when they had their own babies.

RTÉ TV personality and mother of four Mary Kennedy was the readers’ choice for Celebrity Mum of the Year.