A CARD from The Queen was not the only special birthday post that Evie Bowles received last weekend when she turned 100 on October 31.

More than 1,000 birthday cards from across the world flooded in to Gortacharn Nursing Home in Lisnaskea for the centenarian after her grandson's request for people to send her birthday messages went viral on social media.

Derek Bowles, Evie's son, explained to The Impartial Reporter that his son, Gary, who lives in England, put a post up on Facebook two weeks ago sharing his disappointment that he couldn't celebrate with his granny.

"He was gutted that he couldn’t get over to see his granny for her 100th birthday. He asked if any of his friends, or if anybody, would post her a wee card and maybe share his post," said Derek.

To everyone's surprise, Gary's post was shared more than 5,000 times, and subsequently hundreds of people answered his request.

"There’re still cards to be opened but it’s been 1,000 to 1,100 cards she’s got, to date, from all over the world," said a delighted Derek.

Gary has since shared a video to Facebook of his granny thanking all those who sent her birthday cards and gifts.

In the video, Evie said: "Hello everyone, I would like to say a big thank-you to everyone who posted cards and presents in for my 100th birthday; cards from all over the world!

"I enjoyed my birthday celebrations with my friends and family in Gortacharn. Thank you all, and God bless."

In light of the Covid-19 restrictions, Evie's family couldn't hold a party for her as originally hoped; however, the staff of Gortacharn made sure to mark the occasion with a special socially-distanced celebration.

Derek said: "Ena Trimble, the owner of the home, put on a fantastic party for her. There was music and singing.

"One of the residents is very musical, as is Evie herself. They had a party and we saw a few videos of it.

"Then the family were each given an individual 10-minute chat with mum, sitting two metres from her, masked up. The party went well."

On her birthday, Evie also had a visit from First Minister Arlene Foster.

"Arlene went round to her window and had a chat with her. Mum recognised her, and Lord Brookeborough arrived up with a card for her. I presume this all came from the Facebook posts and shares. She had a great day," added Derek added.

As per tradition, when someone reaches the age of 100, Evie received a card from Her Majesty, The Queen.

"She got her card from The Queen, as did my father, her husband. He got his eight years ago.

"Both of them reached 100; my father died in 2014, at almost 102," said Derek.

Saying it has been strange to not be able to see his mother very often throughout the pandemic, Derek said: "There’re only visits of an hour a week allowed, for one person.

"I have two sisters, and my late sister’s husband, so there’s four of us to visit, so that means I get an hour a month with her.

"Hopefully, when this all settles down, we’ll get a proper party but having said that, the home were absolutely tremendous – the party they put on for her was exceptional.

"We couldn’t have done better," Derek told this newspaper.