Noel shaves off trademark moustache for charity

(Above) Noel O'Callaghan after shaving off his moustache.

One of Mullingar's best known residents is a little less recognisable these days.

Retired Regimental Sergeant Major Noel O'Callaghan got his trademark moustache shaved off recently to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House in Dublin, which provides free accommodation for up to 20 families a night on the grounds of Crumlin Children's Hospital. To date, Noel has raised almost €2,300 for the charity.

Noel first grew a moustache when he joined the army in 1975 and his upper lip has been hair free on only one other occasion since then, when he was on a UN peacekeeping mission in Chad in 2009 and there was a shortage of water.

He told the Westmeath Examiner, that his moustache has been such a fixture on his face that his adult children had never seen him without it until they shaved it off. While they were eager to see what he'd look like clean shaven, his wife of over 40 years, Breda, was not quite as excited.

“My son David shaved off one side of it and my daughter Rebecca did the other. There were three generations there for it. My wife tried to pay me not to shave it off (laughs).”

Noel retired from the Defence Forces in 2017 after 42 years of service. Today, he is heavily involved in charity work and campaigning for the improvement of pay and conditions for the current generation of soldiers.

His decision to shave off his moustache has led to plenty of banter from his former comrades, Noel says.

“It had become my trademark and that's why it caught people's imaginations. One vet said that he would make a donation just to see me without it. Another said: 'Well done, now grow it back again quickly'.”

Noel had originally set a target of €500 on the gofundme website, but then increased it to €1,000. He says that he is pleasantly surprised by the amount he has raised so far.

“People are very good. It's also a reminder of how you can do something for charity with relatively little. We might be restricted in movement but not in our will to act,” he said.