Little Kilkenny baby Caoimhe arrives just 18 minutes into the New Year
Is the first New Year's baby at St Luke's
Little Caoimhe (pictured) was the first baby to be born here on New Year's Day — in St Luke's Hospital just 18 minutes after the stroke of midnight.
Proud parents Mark Casey and Ann-Marie Walsh were overjoyed when their little girl was safely delivered weighing 8lb 7oz. Caoimhe was 13 days premature.
Ann-Marie is from Bennettsbridge, while Mark is from Ossory Park in Kilkenny City, where he also works.
Caoimhe wasn't the only New Year's baby in Kilkenny, with another proud mother, Caroline Jenkinson (Kilkenny City) opting for a homebirth for her baby, Lee.
Coincidentally, little Lee shares his New Year's birthday with his father, and is the couple's second son, with his brother also born at home almost two years ago.
Homebirth is an option for parents in Kilkenny, and can be supported by St Luke's Hospital and the HSE. (See next week's Kilkenny People for more on this story).