The Waterford Coady's host special family gathering
John Coady celebrated his 89th birthday at the Coady Family Reunion at the Mount Sion Centre. Photo: Joe Evans
A gathering took place recently for one of Waterford’s most well-known families, the Coady’s. Over 200 family members attended.
The Coady family are descendants of Michael Coady, born on April 24, 1905 in Buttermilk Lane, and Catherine (Kathleen) Doherty, born on September 17, 1909, in Waterford.
Michael and Catherine were married in 1928 at the Church of the Holy Trinity Without, Ballybricken. They had 16 children together, with just seven remaining today.
The recent gathering served as a tribute and reminder that the ones who have passed will never be forgotten. Grandchildren and great grandchildren continue to have strong connections to the Coady name and the family have maintained a powerful bond across generations.
The Coady's have strong associations to hurling, with Joe Coady being one of the players on the winning team for Waterford in the All-Ireland of 1959.
One of the grandchildren Helen Keohan (Millea), Eily Coady’s daughter, reminisced on the family's past, saying: “I remember as a child how Mammy told us about her Dad growing vegetables in the garden. Mammy told us how self-sufficient granddad and granny were for food. They kept pigs, chickens, grew vegetables and granny was a dab hand at baking. How many people used to sit on the back wall and feed the ducks and chicken!”
Granny Coady could often be seen sitting up on the Coffin Stone at the top of the road and listening to the stories of locals. A tea with bread and jam was on offer to the many strangers who sat there!
When Nanny Coady passed away at the age of 80, she had 69 grandchildren.
