The Kelly quads with their new castings.

Hand of quad

Teresa Hannon has cast thousands of babies’ feet or hands for posterity but possibly none were as memorable as her recent encounter with the Kelly quads from Kilclonfert.

She recently visited the Kellys at their home and took casts of James, Luke, Tom and Charlie’s hands. Speaking to the Offaly Independent, she praised both mum Anita and the four boys saying the quads were as “good as gold”.

“I couldn’t believe how calm they were. We had to be very careful though to make sure we had the right hand for the right baby.”

The birth of the Kellys at 29 weeks on February 28 received widespread attention in the media thanks in no small part to the fact the chances of having quads naturally as mum Anita did is 1 in 700,000. Speaking to the Herald this summer, Anita said that her new arrivals all had their own unique traits.

“They don’t all look alike. Two of them are kind of alike but they’re all different, with different personalities and different tantrums,” she said. Teresa, who delivered the framed castings of the boys’ hands to the Kellys this week, said that it has become an increasingly popular way of marking births or christenings.

“The cast is an exact replica of a baby’s hand or feet and captures all the little wrinkles and folds. It’s then framed in a hand made frame. We do it for all ages but its very popular gift for Christenings and births.

“It’s a really tangible keepsake. Sometimes we go back to parents in four weeks and they can’t believe how much their babies have grown in that short space of time.”

Teresa holds monthly castings in Kellys, Toymaster in Tullamore. The next one is on Saturday, September 26.