Baby Celine arrives at 11.11 on 11/11/11

Baby Celine arrives at 11.11 on 11/11/11


Anton McNulty

When you are going to make your entrance into this world, you may aswell do it with style and that is exactly what Celine Dianne Dicenzo did when she was born at 11.11am on 11/11/11 in a Cleveland hospital.
Baby Celine’s arrival was not expected for another week but she must have sensed history in the making when her mother, Mary, who is a native of Achill went into labour. When baby Celine was born, the staff of Cleveland Clinic’s Fairview Hospital knew something ‘extra special’ had taken place when they realised the delivery took place at 11.11am.
“We came in and realized that she was going to be born on the 11th,” Mary, told Cleveland reporters after news of the remarkable birth broke. To make it the 11th hour, the 11th minute was just so weird,” she said, as she held her new-born baby in her arms.
Mary (35) is a native of Dooagh on Achill Island and is the daughter of Celine Kilbane and the late SeΡn Kilbane, who died in the Lios Cara drowning in 1979. She has been living in Cleveland for the past eleven years.
Mary has a nine-year-old daughter who was born ten days late and she was also expecting Celine’s arrival to be late and had not expected her for another week.
“It’s amazing. She’s beautiful and healthy and that’s all that matters, regardless of what time she was born, but it is a wonderful thing. She’s extra special now,” she said.
Some sceptics may be thinking that the time of birth was doctored for that time but the resident Obstetrician, Dr Rebecca Starck said there was no way of altering the time as it was recorded on a digital monitor.
The news of the birth soon reached Mary’s home village of Dooagh and her family were delighted with the newest member of the Achill diaspora in Cleveland. Her grandmother Celine, who the baby is named after, was due to fly out to Cleveland yesterday to see her new ‘extra special’ granddaughter.