Christmas to remember for Trixie the turkey!

Trixie the turkey is not only the luckiest bird in Ireland – but it seems the most popular as well!

The bird destined to be served up for the Christmas dinner at St Mary’s Nursing Home in Shantalla was saved thanks to a broken wing, which necessitated a dose of antibiotics.

The story of how she was saved from being eaten made the headlines as far as Canada and in the past few days, Trixie has received more Christmas cards than any of the 60 residents or staff at the nursing home!

Trixie was a gift from a farmer in Boleybeg in Barna and, to make up for the damaged turkey, he sent in two stuffed ducks to the nursing home in time for Christmas.

Yvonne Carpenter, Director of Nursing at St Mary’s, which opened two years ago on the grounds of St Mary’s College, said staff and residents alike have enjoyed the publicity surrounding what has now been described as the “luckiest turkey in Ireland.”

Nobody knows how the wing got damaged but because the bird is now on antibiotics, she cannot be eaten and it now looks like Trixie will be kept as a pet.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune