In September 2004, Rhona from Belturbet in Co Cavan, became the landlady of O’Neill’s Irish bar on The Broadway, in Wimbledon where Mike, a Gas Safe Engineer, was a regular customer.
After a few weeks, and some strategic planning by both sets of friends of a night out, the pair became an item.
“But over the space of that week, Mike dropped a bombshell and told me that he was going travelling for a year,” Rhona remembers. “It had been planned in advance with his brother and friends and he was off to Australia within the month.... I was secretly devastated but couldn’t show this at the time. There was a hint of hesitancy on whether he would go or not, but we both talked about it and decided that it was such a great life experience not to be missed and that we would keep in touch.”
“We emailed practically every day and called each other every weekend. As the saying goes, the distance made the heart grow fonder and exactly 3 months and 11 days into Mike’s 12 month travelling adventure he was booking a one way ticket back to Wimbledon. We fulfilled the travelling journey by doing it together 4 years later and had the time of our lives travelling the world full circle for 6 months.”
The couple, who have a 6-year old son Aidan, got engaged in July 2013 and were married in the church of the Immaculate Conception in Belturbet, Co.Cavan on 28th August 2016.
A special part of the day for the couple was that they were married by Fr Sean Mawn.
“Since I moved to London back in 1997 I said goodbye to my friends, family and parish which included him at the time,” explains Rhona. “He christened, married and laid to rest most of the members of my extended family.”
Rhona walked up the aisle with her elder brother Aaron and her four bridesmaids were their two sisters - Louise and Lorraine - along with two friends, Nicki and Laura. Mike’s groomsmen were friends Kieran and Greg and his brothers, Sean and Pete, were the ushers.
At the reception in the Slieve Russell hotel, where one of their favourite parts of the day was being announced into the room as Mr and Mrs Lydon, Mike’s speech took the form of a poem he wrote for his new wife called the Belturbet Belle and their first dance was to “Try a little tenderness” by the Commitments.
“We broke tradition a little and requested a second dance. It was Mike’s aunt and uncle’s 40th wedding anniversary on the same date and we asked the band to call them to the floor. They’re huge Elvis fans and we chose “I can’t help falling in love with you” for them. It was a very special moment for everyone when they took to the floor and danced to the tune.”
