TALLAGHT mum Esther Kelly-Keating has been crowned Woman’s Way & Beko Mum of the Year 2017.
Esther was nominated by her daughter Charlotte and was “a little bit overwhelmed” as the winners were announced at a special lunch at the Thomas Prior Hall.
The mum of four works as the nursing director in a nursing home and began her medical training aged just 17 in the UK.
She returned to Ireland after meeting her husband and continued to update her nursing qualification while working in a care centre.
In 2008, she returned to university to get her Higher Graduate Diploma in Gerontology from UCD.
“Once I knew that was the field I was going to specialise in I wanted to be best,” Esther recalled.
“I wanted to have so much knowledge so that I could deliver excellency in care and keep abreast of current and best practice.
“Midwives have the pleasure of bringing people into the world,” Esther told Woman’s Way.
“We in gerontology have the great privilege of being with people in their last days, their last hours…It’s not necessarily sad because people are living their last breath. It’s wonderful to help people to have fulfilled lives.”
After her marriage ended, Esther was in threat of losing the family home. She fought hard to keep her house and succeeded and has since moved into a new place.
It’s evident that challenges are something she relishes – learning to drive, going clubbing and ticking things off her bucket list.
This included travelling to Borneo in 2016 to observe orangutans in their natural habitat.
Esther hopes to go out to volunteer with the animals.
“I think having a challenge keeps you young,” she added. “It keeps your brain healthy. I think when we stop challenging ourselves or pushing ourselves to the limit I think we sort of get older.”
As well as the coveted Dublin Woman’s Way & Beko Mum of the Year crown, Esther won €3,000 worth of Beko home appliances and prizes in excess of €2,500.
Each finalist also walked away with a luxury goodie bag worth at least €500.
Hundreds of nominations were submitted by spouses, children, siblings and relatives from all over Ireland.
The judging panel of well-known Irish personalities had the daunting task of sifting through all the entries to whittle them down to just one mum to be crowned Ireland’s overall number one.
One regional winner was also chosen from each province. The judges taking on this difficult task included Norah Casey, Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, Alison Canavan, Mary Byrne and Pamela Flood.
The 2017 Woman’s Way Celebrity Mum of the Year was announced as Lucy Kennedy.
Previous celebrity mum winners include Yvonne Connolly, Lisa Duffy, Anna Daly, Sybil Mulcahy, Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh and Mary Kennedy.
The award is chosen every year exclusively by Woman’s Way readers and goes to one woman in the public eye.
Shane Kelly, Sales and Marketing Manager at Beko said: “We understand real peoples’ lives and needs, and the everyday challenges they experience.”