Grandparents have picnic table ‘ready for action’ ahead of long-awaited visit

Eithne Reynolds is worried that her youngest grandchild, eight-month-old Niall, will “make strange” when they eventually get acquainted, as a ban on intercounty travel has kept them apart almost since he was born.

She has missed a lot of milestones – his first roll, first tooth, first crawl and his first Christmas Day with all the Santa-related excitement. But on Thursday Eithne and her husband, Tom, were overjoyed at the prospect of seeing their six grandchildren back on the family farm in Drumsoghla on the shores of Lough Arrow in Co Sligo.

The swing is up in the garden where a new, brightly coloured plastic picnic table and chairs are “waiting for action” as the doting grandparents look forward to afternoon tea with their greatly missed grandchildren.

Niall’s siblings Niamh (2) and Patrick (4) used to make the 120km trip every Friday with their parents, Mark and Lynda Reynolds, from their home in Ballybofey, Co Donegal.

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“We have missed all the birthdays,” said Eithne, who has a stash of toys in every room and sweet treats on tap for whenever the grandchildren arrive. “Granny’s house, granny’s rules,” said daughter-in-law Lynda resignedly.

Every Friday morning Tom and Eithne used to wait patiently for Patrick and Niamh to arrive from Donegal with their father Mark, and the children spent the day “helping” with the cows and whatever jobs were to be done on the farm.

‘Lonely’

“We have been really lonely on Fridays,” said Tom, who enjoyed walking through the fields with his grandchildren and bringing them to the lake to see the swans. But in recent months, instead of watching children’s favourites Peppa Pig or Shaun the Sheep, Patrick has been able to see his grandfather’s newborn calves on television.

“We had a few calves born in February so we sent photos on WhatsApp and Mark transferred them to the television for Patrick,” explained Eithne.

Patrick’s mother, Lynda, says it has been hard on all the family, especially given that high Covid-19 rates in Co Donegal meant they had to studiously avoid causing any risk to Tom and Eithne, who are in their 70s and who are due to have their second vaccines on May 20th.

“It’s been really sore on Patrick who changed from being a happy-go-lucky little boy to being down in the dumps. He started bursting into tears and when we asked what was wrong, he said he really missed his granny and granda,” she explained.

‘Lost a year’

“Tom and Eithne lost a year – that has been taken from them. There are different phases in children’s lives which pass so quickly.”

Eithne has also missed her regular fortnightly visits to Dublin, where grandchildren Karen (6) and Tara (4) and their cousin Sean (9) have kept in touch through video calls.

“I have to have Freddie [the dog] on my knee for the calls because that’s who Karen and Tara want to see,” said Eithne.

Video calls have filled a gap but it’s not enough. The last time Lynda FaceTimed Eithne, she saw her father-in-law in the background watching videos of the children she had sent earlier. “It’s nice for him to see them but it’s also very sad. Nothing beats them being together,” she said.