Vicky Phelan's homecoming: 'The people of Mooncoin have been very good to me over the years'

Vicky Phelan visits her home town of Mooncoin in Kilkenny.

It was a homecoming of sorts for a woman best known to many present as Vicky Kelly.

Having spent much of the end of the past year in America undergoing treatment for her cervical cancer, Vicky Phelan returned to her native Mooncoin on Sunday for a gathering in the local parish hall with her family and friends.

It was long delayed due to the pandemic, but organisers decided to push ahead amid rising cases with limited capacity in the spacious hall, where a specially commissioned painting of Phelan's life was unveiled.

A portrait of an activist thread...

Back home in Limerick after a magical couple of days down home in Mooncoin with my family ❤️❤️❤️ culminating with the unveiling (FINALLY!!!) of my portrait by the seriously talented artist, @vincent_devine & bought at auction by...

1/8 pic.twitter.com/xdGRhvpVOa

— Vicky Phelan (@PhelanVicky) January 2, 2022

"It's the nicest thing," she tells the hall, "I’m just sorry about f*cking Covid."

It's one thing being in the High Court and taking to the Late Late studio, but when going front and centre in front of her home parish, Phelan admits the initial feeling was one of nervousness.

"But you know what, no, the people of the parish and Moocoin have been very good to me over the years. When I had my car accident in France I was only 19 and needed an operation, Mam and Dad wouldn't have had the money and there was an awful lot rehabilitation.

"People in Mooncoin rallied together and raised funds to get me going and bring me back from France. It was always important to return that."

She had been a regular before the pandemic, attending her old secondary school Mooncoin Vocational, and receiving a doctorate from her workplace, Waterford Institute of Technology.

For some in Mooncoin, it was a chance to see again someone for whom they had been keeping candles flickering throughout her battles in recent years.

"Everybody's conscious of the fact that she was a neighbour that wasn't well," says Mary O'Hara. "We'd be calling to the house to her mother."

Ena Laffan, another neighbour who had been "keeping the candles going", found the gathering "very emotional".

"I could have cried," she says.

That's what lovely about coming from someplace small," Phelan says. "Every time I see my mother, it's so-and-so is asking for you, so-and-so is lighting a candle for you. It's lovely - how could you not take comfort from that?"

Bernard Keane, who grew up around the corner from her in the village's Comeragh View housing estate, says friends had mainly kept track of her life "through the newspapers", ahead of the occasional catch-up when she'd visit her parents John and Gaby.

"What you see is what you get with Vicky, it's the way she is. Seeing the portrait, there was a lot than you'd never think or ever expect."

The day was also in tribute to another member of the "gang of us in school in the old tech up the road", says Phelan. Nicola Kinsella had four young children and died within a year of her cancer diagnosis, she says. "It was very hard for her family and for the parish."

It was the first time many got to see the impressive painting in person. Artist Vincent Devine wanted to capture Phelan's life through symbolism spread across the 3m by 1.5m frame.

It was purchased by lifelong friend David Brennan, who "partly grew up in the Kelly household", and is considered another brother by Phelan and her siblings.

Phelan is a friend and an inspiration, he says. "It's a homecoming, getting to bring Vincent's painting to Mooncoin and allowing the parish to understand the story behind Vicky, and a way for everyone to catch up."

The painting will now go to Waterford's Solas Centre for cancer support as part of Cervical Cancer Month. There are plans to bring it to Limerick then, before returning it to Mooncoin.

For her father John Kelly, the day brought solace to the family and friends around the parish, who got to come together at last to celebrate Vicky and witness the portrait.

"She's a tough cookie, she keeps coming back. The only aunt I've left, she's 98, Josie Power. I brought her down last week (to see Vicky) and she said: 'Your eyes are very bright' - and she's right. There's something special about her."