A magical Rome trip to celebrate parents' 60th wedding anniversary

By Fidelma Reid

I have been on my fair share of wonderful holidays over the years and may even have considered some of them to be the 'Holiday of a Lifetime'. However, it is only now, after returning from a trip to Rome and the Amalfi Coast with my parents that I can truly say I have experienced such a holiday.

Tom Reid and Breda Murphy met in the Crescent Ballroom in Athlone in 1961, love blossomed and, two years later, they were married in the Carmelite church on the Corso D’Italia, Rome on October 15, 1963.

On October 15, 2023, I had the pleasure and privilege of accompanying Tom and Breda on a return visit to Rome, where they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a special mass in the Carmelite church on the Corso D’Italia.

A photograph of the young and handsome couple taken on their wedding day with St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City as the backdrop appeared in the Sunday Independent while they were on their honeymoon on the Italian Amalfi Coast (see photo below). After mass, we returned to the Vatican City to take a photograph of the still very handsome couple 60 years later.

During those 60 years they reared four children and have seven grandchildren. They lived at Killinure House, Glasson, Athlone, where they farmed their 275 acres for 30 years until transforming the farm into Glasson Golf Course in 1993. They went on to develop Glasson into a 65-bedroom hotel and one of Ireland's premier wedding venues.

Tom and Breda only retired at the age of 80, when they sold their business, now known as Glasson Lakehouse to the Press Up Group in late 2019.

We spent three wonderful days in Rome, then travelled to the Amalfi Coast where we enjoyed each other’s company, breathtaking scenery, delicious food, the odd glass of wine and Limoncello! We laughed, we reminisced, we chatted, all the while knowing how lucky we were to be there together on this magnificent, unforgettable Holiday of a Lifetime.

Special thanks to Fr Jimmy Murray of the Carmelite Church, Moate; Fr Richard Byrne, Carmelite Church, Rome; and Sandra Hughes at Topflight Tours for helping to arrange the trip.