Who paid the bill?

By Gemma Good

A Stradone family is trying to establish the identity of a man who paid their lunch bill.

Claire Druggan, originally from Cavan, was visiting Blackrock with her father Paud Sexton and daughter Kaitlin, earlier this month on Monday, August 9.

Now living in the Isle of Man, Claire was visiting home for the first time in two years. She decided to head to the Louth coast, a place where many family holidays were spent and childhood memories were made.

“When we we’re kids, we used to go to Blackrock,” she explained.

Having not visited the area for over 40 years, the trio were hitting the coast - hail, rain or snow! A little disheartened by the weather and feeling peckish, they decided to go into Rocksalt café for lunch. Having ordered their food and received their drinks, Paud and Claire were reminiscing on times past, while Kaitlin listened to her mother and grandfather.

When Paud left to use the restroom, Claire decided to seize the opportunity to pay the bill.

“I thought I’ll get in there before we’ve even had the meal, I’ll pay for it before he comes back,” Claire revealed her cunning plan.

When she went to the counter, she discovered the lunch had already been covered.

Assuming Paud had beaten her to it, Claire made her way back to the table, wondering when her father snook up with his wallet.

They enjoyed a delicious lunch and Kaitlin gave a generous tip to the waitress. Gathering themselves, Paud told the girls to go on out saying, “I’ll be out in a minute” as he made his way to the counter.

Confused, Claire didn’t know why Paud was going to settle the bill again.

“I let him crack on,” she said, not wanting to upset her father.

Out in the car, Paud was annoyed that Claire had covered the cost of the meal.

“I told you, I was going to pay the bill,” he said.

Great debate was had over who handed over the money. They soon established that neither one had.

A bewildered Claire made her way back into the café.

“Neither of us have paid so what is going on?” she asked.

The waitress explained that “a man paid the bill” but could not give any further description.

The family can only assume this man heard them reminiscing and, touched by their memories, decided to cover the bill.

An astonished Claire and Paud would love it if the payee came forward so that he can be thanked for his kindness.

Claire admitted she is “not the most observant person” and did not notice who was sitting around their table.

Hailing from the Breffni county, the family said they would be a little less shocked if the event happened in Cavan, where they might happen to come across some familiar faces.

“We didn’t know anybody up there or see anybody we knew,” she said.

Claire is still “in total shock” by the event.

“It’s lovely, it’s an amazing thought and act of kindness,” said Claire, encouraged by the fact that there are still good people out there “in a time where everybody is a little bit more self-centred”.

“As a family we have really good memories of going to Blackrock as kids. “It’s just another nice memory on top of that to take away.”

Claire left a message on the Rocksalt café Facebook page and on Tripadvisor asking for the person to come forward, however they haven’t revealed themselves as of yet.

“I don’t think the person knows us.

“To do something for somebody you don’t know, I think it’s unbelievable,” she praised.

If the man who paid the bill happens to be reading this article, Claire, Paud and Kaitlin wish to send out a massive thank you.