The woman believed to be Ireland’s oldest person has died.
Phyllis Furness died in Galway on Monday just a few months after celebrating her 109th birthday.
Her granddaughter, Jackie Ord, travelled from Melbourne, Australia, to join other well-wishers as Furness celebrated her 109th birthday on May 23rd at Moycullen Nursing Home.
She expressed a wish at the time to reach her 110th birthday next May and become a supercentenarian.
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Born Phyllis Olwyn Ryder in Nottinghamshire, England, she moved with her husband John to the Glann Road outside Oughterard in 1981 as a retirement project. Her husband was keen on angling and wanted to be near Lough Corrib.
After he died in 1984, Furness moved to a house closer to Oughterard village and continued to live there until last year when she moved to Moycullen Nursing Home.
She became an active member in the local community, particularly in Kilcummin Church, when she arrived in Galway over 40 years ago.
The couple, who had married in 1940, had one son, John, who was born in 1942 and died in 2012.
Framed greeting cards from the late queen Elizabeth and the current British King and Queen, Charles and Camilla, were on display in her room in Moycullen, while she also received commemorative coins from President Michael D Higgins every year since she turned 100.
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