"There's always afire in the kitchen
There's always a kettle on the boil."

Mary was born Mary Kennedy in Bishopton. Her father, Hugh, was from a Coll family and had grown up with his brothers and sisters in a house near Glaic in the East End of Coll.
Hugh left Coll as a young man and spent his life on dairy farms on the mainland where he met and married Mary's mother, an Irish girl, Agnes Rafferty.
In 1938, Hugh, having retired, returned to Coll accompanied by Mary and they went to live at Arileod where Mary ran a small guesthouse.
Later they moved to Stronvar. In 1943 the Ministry of Food established a creamery at Breachacha where Mary began working.
Making cheese was a job she loved and Mary ran the creamery almost single handed. With the absence of electricity, it was indeed very hard work. Coal fires provided all the necessary heat: all the equipment had to be scalded; all the cloths to be changed and all the boilers set to heat before the arrival of the fresh milk at about 10.30pm.
There having been a depression within the farming community at that time, farms from all over Coll were happy to supply the creamery with milk. At its peak about 500 gallons of milk were delivered daily. Mary made wonderful cheeses, in particular the excellent Stiltons which she liked to make every year at Christmas as presents for friends and family.
It was during her time at the creamery that Mary met Ian MacRae who was farming at Cornaigbeg with his brother Allan. Following their marriage in 1949, Mary moved in to Cornaigbeg and helped care for Ian's elderly mother. Mary continued to work at the creamery after her marriage but gave this up before their son Hamish was born.
In the years that followed Mary ran Cornaigbeg with her usual ability. Whilst Ian and his brother Allan attended to all the farming tasks, Mary kept the house running like clockwork.
She is well remembered for her efficiency on the island milk run which she took over in 1957. This Mary continued to do until the demise of the milk run in 1975. Mary's farm dairy, formerly a railway carriage, was always kept spotlessly clean.
In the earlier days Ian delivered the milk with an original `grey donkey' tractor, the first on the island, but in later years Mary herself delivered the milk in a small Mostovitch van.
Over the years, Mary became known for the hospitable welcome afforded to all who called on her. Guests staying at the farmhouse and those holidaymakers who stayed in the caravans at Cornaig would find their tables laden with goodies to welcome them on their arrival.
Mary left Cornaigbeg in 1992. It had been her home for 42 years. Sadly, she was never able to fully enjoy her new home in the village due to declining health. The island is poorer with her passing and she will long be remembered with affection.