Date of Birth: 26th September 1933

Place of Birth: Bennetstown House, Broadway, Co. Wexford

Date Interviewed: 1st August 2009

Summary: When Gertie Hawkins was just six years old her mother died and she still remembers the black-bordered telegram which brought the devastating news. Her father managed to keep Gertie and her brother Richard at home but two of her brothers went to live with an aunt. Their father was a farmer and the farm provided most of the food they ate. Even though the family was Church of Ireland Gertie and Richard attended the local Roman Catholic school but were never made to feel any different by their peers. She always enjoyed farming and working with animals and learned to churn butter when she was young. Later in life she won awards for the butter she made. When the butter was ready she and her father would make the weekly trip by horse and cart into Wexford where they would sell the butter directly to their customers. Gertie also sold the milk they produced to their neighbours. She has been a staunch member of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association and recalls winning £10 from the Irish Farmers Journal for her Christmas Pudding recipe which they published.