Excitement building in Moate ahead of Anabelle's debut at Winter Olympics
An eye-catching poster went on display at The Pantry bakery and deli in Moate last week. It showed skier Anabelle Zurbay in full flight, alongside the message: "We are making little wonders for you since 1987. Annie is the little wonder for Team Ireland".
The poster was ordered by the proprietor of the business, Anabelle's first cousin once removed, Annette Dalton, in order to show local support for the 17-year-old who will be making her debut at the Winter Olympics in Italy this Sunday morning.
Anabelle, who lives in Colorado but has strong family ties to Moate and Rosemount, will be representing Ireland in the Alpine Skiing giant slalom, run 1 and 2, in Cortina on Sunday, and will also be in action in the Alpine Skiing slalom event on Wednesday next.
The granddaughter of Rosemount native Rosaleen (née McCarthy), Anabelle is a great-granddaughter of the late Ned McCarthy, who was a hairdresser in Moate.
At The Pantry Annette Dalton, a niece of Rosaleen and first cousin of Anabelle's mother Sarah, said the local interest was building ahead of Sunday.
"There is a bit of a buzz around it, which is great to see," said Annette. "We have the poster up here and people are very interested in when she will be skiing and things like that.
"A lot of people, especially older people from the town, were wondering what the family connection is," said Annette, who said several locals have since told her they knew Anabelle's grandmother Rosaleen or went to school with her.
The Moate businesswoman said she has been sharing some of the Irish news reports about Anabelle with her relatives in the US.
"Because she's skiing for Ireland, there's probably more of a buzz around it here than there is over there, because America is so big and her family is scattered (around different parts of the US)," she said.
On Wednesday, RTE's Midlands correspondent Sinead Hussey visited The Pantry to film a report about Anabelle in which she spoke to Annette and other local relatives of the skier.
Annette's daughter, Anna O'Neill, is a teacher in St Brigid's primary school and some of the sixth class pupils from St Brigid's were also filmed for the RTÉ report, which is expected to air on the Six-One News tomorrow (Saturday) evening.