Catherine, 65 and Tom, 75, fear their home will be repossessed
17:31, 12 May 2026Updated 19:51, 12 May 2026
(Image: RedFM)
An elderly Cork couple are facing an uphill battle for their home after a life-changing injury cut off their main source of income, plunging them into debt that they’ve been struggling to pay off for years.
Catherine Barrett, 65, once ran a successful garment alterations business, but in 2017, an accident left her back broken in two places, making it impossible to keep the business going. Now, without their main source of income, she and her husband, Tom, 75, started to fall behind on their mortgage.
When it became clear they couldn’t keep up the payments, the couple approached the bank and entered into personal insolvency, agreeing on a structured repayment plan to try and clear the remaining 120,000 in debt. The arrangement deferred €30,000 worth of the debt and broke the remaining €90,000 down into monthly payments of €832.
Catherine says she has never missed a payment, but that hasn’t come without serious sacrifices.
“There were times I went two or three days without eating,” Catherine admits. “I just made sure Tom and the dog had something. I couldn’t bear them going without.”
The couple now survive on around €600 a week, which includes Tom’s small €100 pension, while still trying to meet their mortgage obligations. The deferred €30,000 portion of the debt also looms over them and must be addressed within five years. Friends of the couple recently launched a fundraiser to help Tom and Catherine get out from under the debt that’s hung over them for much of their lives.
Their home, valued at approximately €320,000, is largely paid down, with outstanding debt reduced to around €46,000. Yet despite this, Catherine says they are now living under the constant shadow of possible repossession.
“We’ve been living behind four walls with this secret,” she told the Neil Prendeville Show on Cork’s RedFM. “Every morning I wake up with the weight of it.”
The emotional toll has been compounded by serious health issues. Catherine recently suffered a pancreatic blockage on St Stephen’s Day, followed by complications in her bile duct just months later. Tom, meanwhile, remains on a modest pension, and the couple say neither is physically able to return to work.
Catherine has even taken out life insurance in a bid to protect Tom financially if she dies first. However, she was unable to secure cover for him, leaving her fearful of what might happen if she were left alone.
“All Tom wants is to hold the deeds of our house in his hands before he dies. He just doesn’t want the bank taking our home,” she said.
Originally mortgaged with First Active before being transferred to Bank of Ireland, the couple say they are not refusing to pay, but simply cannot see a way out.
For now, Catherine continues to fight on, through illness, hunger and fear, hoping that after a lifetime of work, their final years will not be spent losing the home they sacrificed everything to keep. You can check out the fundraiser for the couple here.