'At the age of 75, I became a tour guide'

Ann Cresham is 77 years young and has a vibrancy that would put some people decades younger to shame. She is an integral part of Castlebar Tidy Towns and Castlebar Tourist Office and has no intention of slowing down.

Ann is a Westport native who moved to Castlebar to work in the lab at the then Mayo General Hospital, where she remained for over 40 years. But it’s her love of improving the community for those who live in it that makes her stand out. She is passionate about how organisations like Tidy Towns can not only provide a cleaner environment, but also a place for people from all ethnicities and backgrounds to integrate and learn from each other. Along with her fellow Tidy Towns members, she is helping to create a space for people to go and participate in something that is benefitting the local community on many levels.

We meet at the Linenhall Arts Centre and Ann chats animatedly about her love of all things community.

Angelina: Ann, thanks for talking to me. Tell me a little about your background.

Ann: I'm a Covey, which for those who don't know, means I'm from Westport! I grew up in Westport, went to the Sacred Heart Secondary School, then I went to Kevin Street College of Technology and did Medical and Laboratory Sciences. I came back to Castlebar, thinking I was staying for a month. Yet 50 years later, I'm still here. 

It was karma. The day I came went to work in Mayo University Hospital, there were two people working in the lab, and one of them was going off on long-term sick leave. The guy almost handed me the white coat and said, 'Are you ready to go?' That was how I came to stay in Castlebar. Then, of course, I met my husband, and that was that. 

I grew up in Westport as I said. My father died when we were very young. My mother opened a shop and we worked very long hours, but loved it. I loved meeting people. I suppose I was always social and I liked talking to people. I had a problem with hearing. It was in the family, but I was the only one in this generation that got it. I had several operations on my ears, but nothing worked.

Angelina: How long did you work in the lab at Mayo University Hospital?

Ann: Forty years. I loved it. We evolved with it. It was a time of technology developing, so we developed with the technology. We were self-taught to a certain extent, but we loved it. I love the technology. And I evolved with the systems, and I loved the people I was working with. In fact, there were four of us, we worked together for 22 years. Nobody came, nobody left. We were so close and we went through marriages, deaths, births, everything. When my husband died suddenly at 41, they were all there for me then. They were like family. Over the years, I've found out that I have very good friends. My son also died earlier this year and I have wonderful friends that have supported me in tough times.

Angelina: How did you get involved in the Castlebar Tidy Towns organisation?

Ann: I decided one day, 'Oh, I don't do anything with the community, I think I'll join the Tidy Towns.' A

At that time, Ger Deere was the only man standing in the Tidy Towns. Gradually we made our way back and we started to win medals and we started off with bronze, then silver and we're on our fifth gold now, and we've had a lot of people come and go over the years. It's that type of organisation. We have people who stay in the area for a few years. 

The ethos of the Tidy Towns has changed from picking up litter to biodiversity, community and engagement, and sustainability. We evolved that way and people came in and they were good experts in various areas. This was their passion, which was great. Then last year, the International Protection Agency people started coming in. One lady contacted us to say that she had been in Tidy Towns in Wicklow. We said, 'Fine, come into us and bring your friends'. So she did - about 30 of them! 

They are so enthusiastic. They're like a breath of fresh air. They've done so much for the town, and we're getting so much from it because I've become friendly with a large number of them now as well. They just want to integrate and it's giving them such a huge opportunity to do that. I think we have 13 or 14 different nationalities involved with us now, and it's so interesting. Sometimes they tell you stories, sometimes they don't. But that's okay because how they get here is not always the easiest story.

Angelina: Ann, you said to me before we started, you love meeting people - this is a huge part of your life.

Ann: Yes, I do. I love to talk to people, and I love trying to help people. My philosophy would be to try not to do any harm and do some good if you can - and if you can do somebody a favour, then do it.

Angelina: Ann, you were also involved in the Castlebar International Four-Day Walks as well?

Ann: I was, I loved that too. I was lucky enough to travel a good bit to a lot of European walks. I'm an International Master Walker, because I was in Japan, and that's entitled to me to the International title, and then I got all the European walks in. That was quite an experience to travel to different countries.

Angelina: And you volunteer in the Castlebar Tourist Office?

Ann: I've worked for the tourist office for about 12 years. I love it and I love talking to the tourists and I love promoting our county. I think Castlebar has so much potential and it's central for so many other locations around the county. Tourists can drop into us and chat to us about what they'd like to see. You can chat with them and see where they'd like to go and take out the map of Mayo and have a look and suggest locations to them.

Angelina: Ann, where does your passion for staying involved in community projects come from and what keeps you going?

Ann: I suppose it's like most people, it was just something to do initially, and then I got passionate about the Tidy Towns. Then when we started to win competitions and we started to win medals, that was an extra incentive too. Then we got more people involved and there's more enthusiasm and people come along with ideas and push it on again. Then I suppose social media happened and we could post stuff on social media and people can see what we are doing. 

Anybody is welcome. If you come for an hour or you might come for a year, that's okay, that's fine. You're not signing a contract. You're talking to people and you're chatting with them, you're pulling weeds and you're saying, 'Well, where are you from? What do you do?' I suppose some people come too because they're lonely and it's something to do for an hour on a Saturday. The way it helps people keeps you going.

Angelina: Will you continue with your volunteering?

Ann: I'm 77 now, so I'm hoping I'll be back at the tourist office next year. It's not very heavy work, but it's important work. It's lovely. I'm very interested in the history of the town and the history of Mayo. We had one very memorable trip to refurbish Louis Brennan's grave in London, a man with great Castlebar connections. It was a really great trip. You learn so much from people that are not in a textbook. At the age of 75, I became a tour guide. That was a great course, the class was great. Everybody was from different backgrounds and all different places, and they were great to talk to. We learned so much from the course and from each other. And that's what I love doing!