Our First Date!

Forty years ago this week, Cepta and myself got married. It was the happiest day in my life and memories of that wedding day are as fresh as if it was only yesterday.
We got married in Cepta’s home church of Ryehill surrounded by our dear friends and families. Cepta had spent many enjoyable Sundays there as a young girl serving parishioners after mass in her uncle’s grocery and news agency shop nearby. I tried to bring a bit of high tech to the wedding ceremony (I was the inaugural Apple Salesperson of the Year for Ireland only two years before) by designing and producing the Wedding Mass leaflets (I still have one!) on my Apple Macintosh, scanner and printer! Even though it was a hot August day, we enjoyed seeing on route multiple bonfires as we passed through the village of Monivea and the town of Athenry- it was then and possibly still is a lovely traditional greeting for newlyweds in east Galway. As we neared our final destination we passed large numbers of lightly dressed people enjoying the scorching sunshine in Salthill and waving at the passing wedding party before arriving at the Salthill Hotel for the reception.
This location was the obvious place for our wedding.
For it was in the Salthill Hotel that we had our first date (photo) when I, a brown duffle-coated scruffy jean-wearing long-haired megaphone-holding ultra radical Student Union President, asked the beautiful classy always impeccably well-dressed Cepta to be my date for the Science Ball of December 1980. It was a joyous shock to me when she said “Yes”! And what a wonderful night we had in the company of student friends including Paddy Clancy, Damhnait McHugh, Kieran Coen, Deirdre Ní Thuama and Martin Casey(RIP).
It was on a very rocky seashore on a moonlight night two years later opposite the Salthill Hotel when I went down on my knees and asked Cepta to marry me. Luckily for me she said “Yes” once again.
The August date of our wedding was not our first choice. It was originally supposed to be in June. But as mentioned previously, it was mutually decided early on that it had to be rescheduled to late August in case I ended up in jail as one of the co-organisers of the anti-Reagan demonstrations of June 2nd.
My ‘leftism’ also got me into trouble with the celebrant priest. He totally disagreed with my choice from the bible for the reading at the wedding mass, saying it was too radical. When I humbly disagreed with him and said nicely that it was from sacred scripture, he responded with the comment that what could he expect after all from someone who came from my part of the country (Carrickmacross in south Monaghan during the time of the Troubles). But asides from the fact that Michael D Higgins could not attend due to a preorganised trip this was the only glitch on what was a perfect day. With our favourite DJ doing the music, how could it not be! Gerry Sexton was a legend in Galway during the late 1970s and early 1980s and was so much part of student life during that golden college era. In fact his disco was so good, that Cepta and myself did not want to leave the dancefloor and energetically danced until the small hours of next morning. We only left when Gerry and others lifted us off the floor and carried us struggling off to our nuptial bedroom (everyone else was so tired!).
Like all couples, life since has not always been a bed of roses. There were some challenging times but they have far outweighed by the good times of fun and laughter. I am the luckiest man alive as Cepta has been such a force for good and stability, allowing us to enjoy a loving relationship. We have been blessed with two great sons that have done us proud. Next weekend, our oldest boy Shane is getting married to the beautiful Michelle Quinn. It is the greatest anniversary gift that we could ever have hoped for.