They finally said ‘I do’ after 40 years

ON St Valentine’s Day, this week, a Limerick couple will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their first date.

And this Thursday will also be the first anniversary of their wedding day.

They finally said “I do” after a romance that spanned four decades.

Limerick widow Ann McMahon and Corkman John Walsh tied the knot at the Limerick Marriage Registry Office.

They first dated in 1968 and then went their separate ways.

However, a chance meeting in the Crescent Shopping Centre in Limerick in 2004 re-ignited the romance which started in 1968 after they met at a dance in the Jetland Ballroom in Limerick.

John, 65, got divorced in 2002 and Ann, 59, was widowed in 2000.

Speaking from their home in Ballysimon, Limerick, yesterday, John said: “It has been a brilliant year and everything is great.”

John, a native of Crosshaven, spent many years in England as a painting contractor.

On retiring he moved back to Limerick.

John said: “After we parted in 1968 I never set eyes on Ann and did not know if she was dead or alive. I was in the Crescent Shopping Centre and saw this woman. God, I said to myself, that’s Ann. I went over to her and she knew me straight away. Memories of younger times came flooding back and we chatted away. There were a few tears as the old romance sparked again.”

Ann said : “I knew it was John. My knees nearly went form under me. I kept an old photo of the two of us taken in the Jetland Ballroom in 1968 when we first met. The Miami showband were playing that night.”

Ann used the photo on their wedding invitations last year.

John said: “St Valentine’s Day is special. But more special for us than most.”