A Kilfenora man who became an overnight social media sensation in his attempts to get fit and healthy has spoken of his delight at providing enjoyment for the public during a difficult time.
Sixty seven year old Padraig Howley has amassed 79,000 followers on Instagram in the space of two weeks, a figure ‘influencers’ all over the world would likely sell a limb or family member for.
His warm, genuine and endearing nature has been appealed to people as Padraig goes vegan for a period of 21 days in a bid to improve his health and nervous system following advice from doctors and health professionals.
By his own description, Padraig admitted to being “very traditional” with his diet which included a breakfast comprised of sausages, rashers, black and white pudding in the morning with a few beans. When he was advised to give up dairy, his youngest daughter Tara encouraged him to go vegan. “To be quite honest I didn’t know what vegan was. I said I’d have a go if she helped me, she set up an Instagram page which I didn’t know anything about on the Monday night, by Tuesday evening she said I had a follower for every day of the year. It went crazy after that”.
Married to Geraldine with three daughters, Crusheen based Eimear, Fanore teacher Sharon and Riverdance member Tara, he laughed at the notion of their Kilfenora home becoming a landmark for tourists when restrictions ease. “A lot of people have said they must come and say hello, it reminds me of Clannad in Donegal, they had a B&B, when they were touring they would tell people to call to the house, seemingly one summer there was more people calling to the house than staying at the B&B, I don’t think it will happen me”.
Messages of support have been a big plus in his endeavour. “At this hour of my life it doesn’t bother me,” he said of the 79k followers. “I’ve got an awful lot of messages of support saying I’m helping people, it has got a massive reaction all over the world, it is unbelievable”.
Missing out on the big dinners he was accustomed to is proving difficult. “When you’re out all day you’d be looking forward to the dinner, now I’ve to come back and cook for myself, sometimes the hunger is gone on me by the time I’ve the meal cooked. I miss certain foods, I’m nearly 68 years old and I didn’t know anything else. My health is worth it and that’s the way I look at it, nobody wants to be in hospital, it is a call for me to cop myself on,” he told The Clare Echo.
Howley has yet to decide if he will stay vegan when the challenge concludes later this month. “Companies all over Ireland have sent me food that I never knew existed, the other morning I had a sausage with a black and white pudding, unless you knew you wouldn’t have known the difference. I’d decide I’d cook myself, I’m finding it funny because I wasn’t used to cooking but I think I must have picked the hardest recipes in the book, they sounded simple but they weren’t that simple”.
His peers have also been given a nudge to get active while slagging is commonplace anytime Padraig answers the phone, “people ring me and say ‘oh I thought you wouldn’t answer the phone at all, you’re a celebrity now’. We never needed enjoyment more than we need it now. I’ve no idea how the following got so big, it just happened, people are getting enjoyment out of it and we’ll enjoy it while it is there”.
Staying positive is key, the welder of forty years concluded. “Let’s try stay positive for another while, the lockdown has been going on for so long so we need to stay positive. The other thing I’ll say is to be yourself, there is no point trying to be anyone else or copying other people, people will like you or they might not, once you are yourself is the main thing, that’s how I’ve been all my life”.
