Mick hangs up his overalls after 65 years!

Hard at work! (Pic: Joe Prendergast)

This week Ballyenihan man Mick O’Keeffe celebrated his retirement after 65 years under the bonnet. Mr O’Keeffe has been operating out of the garage on the Fermoy Road in Mitchelstown since 1996.

He had previously run the Texaco station nearby before moving to the garage at the edge of the town. Qualifying in 1965, he worked in Mitchelstown Waterworks for about eight or ten years. The Avondhu this week asked Mick if he’d ever wanted to do anything else. The answer? “No!”, and he admits that he does have a gift for cars.

Meeting Mick, his wife Eileen and a few others on Monday morning at the garage, Mick told The Avondhu that his plans for retirement are simply to ‘take it easy’. The garage is neat with cloth printed calendars hung up high, dating back to 1996. Earlier that morning, friends gathered to have a cup of tea with Mick and Eileen for one last Monday morning.

Full story in this week’s Print & Digital Edition