'I'm a gran to four sets of twins'

With two of her three daughters mum to two sets of twins each, Frances Gavin, 67, from Moville in Ireland, has become a local celebrity due to her 'twintastic' family

- KATE SKELTON

'As I walked into the shop, the lady behind the counter smiled and beckoned me over. “Hi, Grandma!” she said. “Look at these. I put them to one side for you.”

She wasn’t my granddaughter and we weren’t related – I was just a customer coming in to browse. But as I glanced over at the child’s dress she was holding up, I knew I had to have it.

“That’s perfect,” I said, smiling. “I’ll take it.”

It was Easter, but I’d already started buying gifts for Christmas. By June I’d bought alarm clocks, watches and clothes – and hidden them away in the attic. You have to start early when you’re a grandmother to four sets of twins – all born around Christmas.

Two of my three daughters each have a pair of twins – all non-identical. There’s Caoimhe and Cara, the only two girl twins, who are eight. Then there are six-year-olds Aodhàn and his sister Saoirse. Next come Teddy and his sister Darcie, now two, and the youngest of the crew are Harriet and her brother Gabriel, who turn one in January.

As a result, I’m treated like a celebrity where I live. Everyone’s fascinated by my twintastic family. But even though they all know who I am, no one calls me by my first name – Frances – any more. I’m simply known as Grandma.