A woman born in the year of the Easter Rising and who survived two pandemics has died just days before her 109th birthday.
Sarah Coyle, believed to be Ireland’s oldest person, died peacefully at her daughter Marian Galligan’s home in Castleknock, Dublin, on Monday July 14th, just 10 days before her 109th birthday, her family confirmed.
She was surrounded by her family when she died, her grandson Thomas Galligan said. Just days earlier, she thanked the family for all they had done for her and “wanted us to know we had her blessing”, he said.
Ms Galligan told The Irish Times earlier this year her mother, who grew up in Co Wicklow, had memories of significant periods in Irish history, including from the Civil War (1922-1923) and even the War of Independence (1919-1921).
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Those memories, Ms Galligan said, included of the Black and Tans, British forces operating in Ireland during the War of Independence who were notorious for their violence.
Ms Coyle remembered one occasion when all the men called James in her home area were rounded up by the Black and Tans in an effort to identify who had shot one of their members. Ms Coyle’s father James was among those taken up the mountains but, while his family feared the worst, he returned home uninjured several hours later.
Ms Coyle had nine siblings, some of whom also lived beyond their centenary year. Her sister Lily Kelly, who lives in Solihull in England, turned 103 in April. One of her brothers, Andy Byrne, died shortly before his 101st birthday.
Ms Coyle was born in Knockatomcoyle, a townland in Co Wicklow, before her family moved to Coolkenno, near Tullow. She was working as a housekeeper in Foxrock when she met Tom Coyle from Cavan at a dance.
They married and lived in Drumcondra. The couple had four children but two of their daughters died as newborns. Ms Coyle, who lost her eyesight in her early thirties, has five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Her husband worked as a postman until he had a stroke in his late 50s, followed by a brain haemorrhage.
When asked what her mother attributed her longevity to, Marian Galligan said she would gather the first nettles every spring and put them in the cabbage.
“She used to say, ‘that will purify your blood’.”
