Tag Archives: St Threresa’s Nursing Home

A KILRUSH nursing home has celebrated a quarter of a century of providing care to Clare’s older citizens. St Theresa’s Nursing Home opened its doors, under the direction of Seán and Nora Grogan, on June 18, 1996, with the aim of giving residents a home away from home. Located on the Kilkee Road, St Theresa’s was designed by Séan and Nora Grogan as a purpose-built facility. Nora’s daughter Yvonne returned to Kilrush after a number of years nursing in London, Dublin and Galway. A specialist in palliative care, Yvonne came back to work alongside her mother to ensure the family ethos continued. Fr Pat Larkin who was curate in Kilrush in 1996 and is now Parish Priest celebrated mass for staff and residents. In March of this year, Nora sadly passed away and, as part of the 25 year celebration mass, Fr Pat remembered the commitment and dedication of both Nora and the late Séan. “Due to the restrictions we …

A CENTENARIAN, living in West Clare, recently celebrated her birthday with a letter from two heads of state. Joyce Mabel Heppell lives at St Theresa’s Nursing Home in Kilrush, where staff and residents helped her to mark the milestone birthday on April 14. Joyce Mabel Heppell née Morris was born in 1921 in London and grew up in the family-owned sweet shop in Ealing. Joyce had one sibling, a sister who passed away around 50 years ago. At the outset of World War II, Joyce volunteered to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), being posted to a radar site on the Thames estuary in Kent. The low point of this time was a period of three weeks, when there were only sardines to eat. After the war, Joyce joined the Foreign Office and went to Moscow, Washington and later to Paris. The birth of her son brought Mabel back to England to live in Surrey and work at the Department …