WHEN Peggy Bogue from Tempo celebrates her 90th birthday this Thursday she won’t be the only woman marking her ninth decade. 

For Peggy, originally from Lisnaskea and now living on the town’s Main Street, is one of only a few people across the North to share her birthday with Queen Elizabeth. 

“I’ve never really thought much about but it has been nice to share the date. She’s a great woman and I don’t think that religion matters much to her. I admired her when she went to Dublin and did her duty with dignity,” she told the Herald.  

Born on April 21st, 1926, Peggy was one of six children born to Dick and Elizabeth Ingram and has one surviving sister left, Kitty who turns 86 this year. After school, she began a long career in dressmaking. During the Second World War when material was in short supply due to rationing, she remembers having to travel over the border to Donegal and Monaghan for supplies.  

In 1950, she married Tom Bogue and they had three sons and two daughters. She now has 15 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren. Tom passed away 12 years ago but Peggy says she’s fortunate that none of her family live more than ten minutes away.      

Being a birthday twin of the Queen has even led to a meeting between the two women. Ten years ago, Peggy was one of those selected to celebrate her 80th birthday with The Queen at Buckingham Palace. Her daughter Maureen accompanied her after seeing the application form in the paper and sending in her mother’s birth certificate. 

“I wasn’t a bit nervous about meeting her. You hear about all these people getting all worked up weeks beforehand but I just got on with it. She was very nice and asked where I was from and who I had brought with me,” recalls Peggy.    

A non-drinker and non-smoker all her life, Peggy has no intention of slowing down. 

“I don’t know what my secret is. I just make sure that I’m always on the go. Staying positive is a big thing too. I’m still driving and I’d be lost without my car to get out and about. I’ve no home helps because I’m very independent and like to do things for myself. They’d only be keeping me back. If I keep on going as I am, I’ll do rightly!”

Peggy had been invited to join other nonagenarians at a beacon lighting in the grounds of Belfast City Hall on Thursday to mark the Queen’s birthday. However, she turned down the opportunity so that she could spend her special day celebrating with her family at the Killyhevlin Hotel. She will be attending the beacon lighting ceremony and cross-community service at St Macartin’s Cathedral in Enniskillen.

“It would be very tiresome and I wanted to be with my own family and friends on the day,” she said.