Marie was born in 1951 in Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. She is one of seven children and has three sisters, Elizabeth, Kathleen and Teresa, and three brothers Michael, Frank and John. Her brother Frank is now a priest in Yorkshire!
She lived in Ireland until she was 7 years old and she moved to Croydon in 1958 with her family as her father needed to find work. Her youngest brother, John, was born after they moved to London. Growing up in Croydon was busy and she and her family had plenty of fun. As a teenager, she was quiet and shy. Her special memories were being together with siblings.
Marie went to school at Regina Coeli Primary. There were lots of other Irish children there, and it’s where she met one of her dearest and lifelong friends, Tina Fennessy from Tipperary, whose birthday was only 5 days after Marie’s birthday. Marie went on to attend Thomas More Secondary School, and her favourite subjects were maths and history. She left school in 1966.
Marie’s first job was at Midland Bank (which is now HSBC), at just 16 years of age. When she was 18 years old, Marie met her now husband, Robert Ryan, at The Harp Club in New Cross, a well-known Irish music and dance venue in South East London during the 1960s and 1970s. She used to take the train there with best friend Tina and they would get the coach back again to Croydon.
Marie and Robert got married on July 1st 1972. Robert was a scaffolder by trade, and the company he worked for were opening a new depot in Northampton due to the expansion in his industry at the time. Robert was offered a transfer to Northampton which included a three-bedroom house as an incentive to move. Marie was also able to get a transfer with her job to Midland Bank in Kingsthorpe, and so the couple moved to Northampton.
Five years later, Marie and Robert’s son Daniel was born. Marie then took some time out of work to focus on looking after Daniel, but after nine years she began a new part-time job at Barclays Bank. Her job was to encode cheques, which she says she found really boring! Eventually however, Marie found a different full-time job at Nationwide Building Society, which she really loved. Marie remained there for 32 years, finally retiring in 2021.
Now in her retirement, Marie volunteers regularly alongside her sister Kathleen for The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation. Together, they help to run the charity’s weekly “Monday Club”, which is a social session helping to prevent loneliness and isolation for people in Northamptonshire. Marie really enjoys volunteering, and one of her favourite jobs is to call out the all-important bingo, a highlight of every session!
In 2023, Marie and Kathleen were both awarded with the Rose of Northamptonshire Award, in recognition of their volunteer work for The McCarthy-Dixon Foundation.
Marie and her husband Robert have now been happily married for 53 years. The time she felt most proud was when her son Daniel got his degree. Daniel now works as a psychiatric nurse at Saint Andrews Hospital in Northampton. Marie currently has no grandchildren, but she is a proud aunty to four nieces and four nephews.
Marie has travelled a lot over the years, and she still visits Killarney regularly with her family. She also went to America for Robert’s 70th birthday, where they visited Nashville Tennessee and New Orleans, which she found to be friendly and lively places. Marie said her favourite meal is a roast dinner, and her favourite type of cake is Victoria sandwich cake! She loves the spring weather, and her hobbies include playing Irish Country music, watching the football, and playing darts.
The advice Marie said she would give to young people today is to travel the world, explore, go on fun adventures and above all, be kind to everybody.
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