On Saturday 7th May IRELAND's first known quadruplets celebrated their  30th birthday.

Known as the "Duffy Quads", brothers Thomas, Niall and John Paul Duffy celebrated the milestone  with their sister Orla . Also at the celebrations were their  siblings Conor (26) and Roisin (31) at the family home in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.

The siblings were conceived naturally and made headlines after being delivered by Dr David Lowry at the Craigavon Area Hospital in Co Armagh on May 7, 1981, weighing in at a combined weight of just 18 pounds.

Their birth came as a surprise to their mother Elizabeth and father Peader as they were  told she was having twins a few days prior to their birth.

Orla, who just recently returned from Australia where she has lived for the past five years, said they are all thrilled to have reached the milestone with a clean bill of health.

"We are all really proud of our parents and we thank them so much for sacrificing for us over the years, and also for their patience," she said.