Birthday boy’s late delivery

A birthday card posted to a man in East Galway to mark his 30th birthday finally arrived to his home – just over ten years too late!

Andrew Meehan from Kilconnell was more than a little taken aback when the card arrived to his house on Monday last, weeks after he celebrated his 40th birthday.

The birthday card was sent to Andrew by his parents Nellie and the late Tommy – who passed away seven years ago – in Westport, but it took over a decade for it to arrive at its destination 80 miles away.

The card along with a €20 postal order was posted in Westport with a 35c stamp and read “A very happy 30th birthday. Enjoy your day. Lots of love as always, Ma and Da and Roseanne (his younger sister).

For a split second Andrew thought it was a spoof but on closer examination he realised that it was the real thing that had taken ten years to arrive.

“But the fact that it arrived so close to my 40th birthday made it all the more strange,” Andrew told The Connacht Tribune. “It is just crazy stuff”.

Andrew moved to Kilconnell back in 2006 and currently works in a factory in Galway city.

He celebrated his 30th birthday on March 25, 2008 and to mark the occasion, his parents sent him a card – but his mother Nellie did not quite know the exact address. So on the envelope she wrote Andrew’s name and underneath she put “House beside the co-op, Kilconnell Village”.

It is not known what happened to the card in the meantime but it arrived last week to another house in the village before eventually being delivered to Andrew earlier this week.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.