Everything about the day couldn’t have been better

Everything about the day couldn’t have been better

A DOWNPATRICK couple celebrated their wedding at Murphy’s Bar in the town ten years to the day they met there for their first date.

It was a movie nobody could make up.

Five weeks before Peter Kelly and Shauneen Hynds were due to celebrate their wedding on December 14, Downpatrick town centre was under water with a catastrophic flood devastating many businesses, including Murphy’s.

The water rose almost as high as six feet inside the Downpatrick bar and restaurant and there were questions if it would it reopen and what financial assistance would be offered.

“When we saw the amount of water on Market Street we both started to panic,” Peter explained.

“We had booked Murphy’s for our reception back in February.

“It was really important for Shauneen and I to have our reception there because it’s a very special place for us – it’s where we had our first date and we wanted to have our wedding reception there so that it was full circle.”

Uncertain about the extent of the damage the venue sustained during the floods, Peter decided to go down to Murphy’s the weekend the water had been drained from Market Street.

“When I went down that Sunday, the whole place was a mess,” Peter recalled. “There were chairs everywhere and there were a lot of people trying to tidy the place up. I thought the least I could do while I was there was to try and help the clean-up.”

While Peter was cleaning he struck up a conversation with bar and restaurant owner  Bartley Murphy.

“I was helping adjust a curtain when a woman said, ‘We need to get that curtain cleaned, it’s for a wedding in five weeks’,” said Peter. “I turned around and it was Bartley’s wife Michelle and I explained to her that it was my wedding that was due to take place a few weeks later.

“We chatted for a while and before she brought Bartley over and explained to him that Shauneen and I had booked our reception with them.”

Feeling deflated and worried about what he and Shauneen would do, Bartley’s response to Peter left him surprised.

“He assured me there and then that the place would be sorted and ready for our wedding in five weeks,” said Peter. “Bartley explained that the bar had waterproof floors, so all they needed to do was focus on the clean-up.

“I must admit I was very surprised to be given such assurance – it looked like a massive ask.”

Prior to Peter going to Murphy’s, he and Shauneen had considered booking another venue for the reception and even considered postponing the wedding altogether. 

“We thought there was no chance the place would be ready for our reception, but we were in regular contact with Bartley and Michelle,” he recalled.

“Shauneen knows the Murphy family and Bartley and his brother Mark gave us every assurance that the wedding celebration would still go ahead.”

Describing the moment Murphy’s reopened for business and knowing for certain that their wedding would go as they intended, Peter said the couple were very, very relieved.

They enjoyed their special evening which Peter said “could not have been better” and was as good as any five-star hotel he’d been in.

“We had family from all over the country who came up to Shauneen and I and praised how brilliant everything was. Everything about our wedding was local. We had singer Deborah Fitzsimons booked for the whole day and it was just amazing.

“Having our reception at Murphy’s was so important to us and I would just like to say a special thanks to the Murphy family, Bartley, Michelle and Mark, Ryan Teggart, the event organiser and chef John Stevenson.

“Everything about the day could not have gone better. The staff were second to none and the food was incredible. Shauneen and I would like to say a massive thank you for making our day so special.”