With reference to driving beyond a certain age (Letters, 11 January), in 1983 my maternal aunt, Eveline Gildea, bought, with a legacy, the holiday home of General Sir John Hackett at Loughros Point, Ardara, Co Donegal. The general, of Irish descent, was left a calling card by the IRA shortly after he bought the property and he sold it, without ever having lived in it, to my aunt. Eveline, born in 1919, had never held a driving licence and Loughros Point was an hour’s walk to her brother’s house and business in Ardara.
An old car had been left in the garage when Eveline bought the house and she asked the local mechanic to make it roadworthy. On most days, she drove the car on the coast road to Ardara. She was less than 5ft tall so had to sit on a couple of cushions and still her nose, which was prominent, only just showed over the steering wheel. The local gardaí turned a blind eye and Eveline happily drove to the Beehive Bar in Ardara until she died in 2000. Methinks, that Ireland was and still is a country for “auld” women.
Rosanna Achilleos-Sarll
Oxford
