Known as ‘The Governess’ on the popular TV quiz show, The Chase, Anne Hegerty has become a household name across Ireland and the UK.
Speaking on Midlands 103 this week, Anne revealed the extent of her family connections which lie here, in Laois.
Anne first spoke publicly about her Laois roots two years ago while appearing on Beat The Chasers.
This week, The Governess was a guest on the Midlands Today Show with Sinéad Hubble, where she revealed that her maternal grandfather had been John Brereton from the Midlands.
Anne said she always thought that the Breartons were from Mountrath, but that she recently came across a book which suggested her branch of the family may have come from Offaly.
Her grandfather, she says, was a farmer in Mountrath before moving to Chapelizod in Dublin, where he married a girl from Down before the couple moved to Scotland.
Anne recounted one of the fondest stories she has of her Brearton legacy:
“My family had a banshee that lived in the apple tree – and somebody decided it was a really good idea to chop the apple tree down and the banshee was simply furious,” Anne said.
“She flew three times around the farmhouse and then perched on the roof and announced that within two generations there would be no more Breartons in this part of Ireland.
“The Breartons went everywhere; I thinkyou can find Breartons on every continent part from Antarctica, and I’m not even sure about that.”
Anne’s paternal roots are also here in Ireland, with the Hegertys coming from County Cork.
You can listen the full interview here.
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