The sweet joy of a haircut!

Five long months of waiting to get her hair cut came to an end for Nenagh woman Helen O’ Sullivan on Wednesday of last week.

Almost half a year without being able to visit her hairdresser due to pandemic restrictions did have its challenges, admitted Helen from Gortlandroe.

But her misery came to an end when she entered the salon of Bridget Darcy in Ballwilliam.

“I would have been willing to give Bridget a thousand euro to cut my hair,” said Helen, who admitted that she couldn’t wait to get rid of her unruly locks.

“It’s years since I had my hair down that length,” she said, referring to how much it had grown in almost half a year.

“Usually I get my hair cut every five weeks, but having to wait for five months was awful. It was a pure nuisance trying to keep it all back and down in the wind,” said Helen.

Like so many other women - and indeed men - she was overjoyed to hear that the Government was allowing hairdressers to open again.

“My hairdresser Bridget Darcy was great to cut it for me and I really appreciated it,” she said.

Helen revealed that she encountered photographer Bridget Delaney who was coming out of the salon with her own brand new hairdo.

An of course our snap happy photographer, always seeking out a good opportunity for the perfect shot, was more than happy to capture the photographs of Helen before and after her long awaited haircut.

Helen added: “I'm delighted now. I can go out and hold my head up.

“I sent the photograph of me with my hair cut to my daughters and when they saw it their response was, ‘Mam is back',” laughed Helen.