Identical twin sisters from County Carlow celebrate 91st birthdays

THE Hickson and Daly families celebrated a very special occasion recently in the Lord Bagenal hotel, Leighlinbridge when twin sisters Maureen and Bridie celebrated their 91st birthdays.

The two fresh-faced siblings were joined by their children, grandchildren and extended family to mark the great occasion with stories, craic and a little bit of reminiscing.

Identical twins Maureen Hickson and Bridie Daly (née Murphy) were born on 23 March 1935 in Myshall, where, in their youth, they loved to go to all the dances, travelling mostly on bike from Myshall to Tullow, Carlow and the surrounding areas.

They like to tell stories of how they would swap places to confuse the boys, while they also developed a lifelong love of clothes. They still love shopping, though this can be tricky sometimes when they both want the same thing!

Bridie still lives in Myshall and was married to the late Hugh Daly. The couple had three sons and two daughters and now Bridie has seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild and another one on the way.

Maureen married Séan Hickson and couple were married for over 50 years when Séan passed away. She lives in Rutland, Palatine and has four sons – twins Tommy and PJ, and Niall and Donal. Maureen has 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The two sisters are very close and love nothing better than catching up with friends and family to hear all the news.

They don’t know what the secret to long life is, but they both agree that they were always hard-working, loved socialising and still always enjoy a good laugh!

*See this week's The Nationalist for more photos