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Irish Independent
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Independent
‘The personification of sunshine' – Ireland's oldest person Sarah Coyle is laid to rest
Mrs Coyle, who at 108 was Ireland's oldest person, lived through two pandemics, the Irish Civil War and the War of Independence. She was a native of Knockatomcoyle, Co Wicklow, but lived with her daughter Marian Galligan in Castleknock in Dublin. She died peacefully on Monday surrounded by her family. Her granddaughter Anne Marie told mourners at St Brigid's Church in Blanchardstown in Dublin today that her Nana was the 'personification of sunshine'. 'You felt her warmth. She radiated a positive energy and you would be left with a glow from simply basking in her presence. Like the song goes she made you happy when skies were grey,' she said. 'It is true Nana had much suffering or heartache in her life. She didn't dwell on it. She refused to let it define her. She actively chose happiness and love. Repeatedly.' Anne Marie said that her grandmother had lost her sight by the age of 40. 'Despite living in total darkness for much of her long life she brought light to so many. She was a masterclass in resilience,' she said. 'She proved your energy creates a ripple. When you choose healing over hate, peace over pride and love over fear you become the light that someone end was praying for. 'Today Nana we marvel at your courage, we celebrate your strength and we are forever grateful for your sunshine. The world is so much brighter from you having been in it. 'Your love and sunbeams will continue to shine through all of us whom you have loved so fiercely. You can rest in peace now Nana knowing that you were the very best in nana's and the very best in women.' Anne Marie added that her grandmother was a person of many skills. Sarah, who was widowed in 1968, was a 'talented seamstress and avid gardener' who could singlehandedly flip a double mattress and change sheets until her 90s when her family 'begged her to stop'. Her son-in-law Anthony said that Sarah often marvelled at her longevity. 'She used to say 'I can't believe I'm a hundred years old and I'm still here. I wonder if God has forgotten about me?' And we would say 'Far from it. He hasn't forgotten about you. But you still have important work on earth and he is leaving you here.' 'She would break in to a lovely smile and say 'I suppose he will call me when he needs me.' Anthony said that his mother-in-law had a great sense of fun and would want her funeral to be a happy event. He remembered her 'lovely smile and 'kind words' and indicated that she was a role model to her loved ones. 'By the age of 40 she was almost totally blind. You would think that was as a parent of a young family a tremendous challenge. I can only imagine what it must have been like,' Anthony said. 'She quickly gathered herself. She said there was two choices - 'I could either go under or spend the rest of my life feeling sorry for myself.' She was an inspiration.' Fr John Gilligan, who celebrated the mass, said that it was being watched online by Sarah's 103-year-old sister Lily, who is based in Birmingham in the UK and by her son Patrick who lives in Melbourne, Australia. Fr Gilligan said that the congregation were in the church to celebrate a 'life well lived'. 'Almost 109 years of life. What changes she would have seen from the Ireland of 1916 to the Ireland of today,' he said. 'When you look at her life she was one who lived it to the full. Her advice to people was 'Don't bear grudges. Be kind to people.' 'We think of all the things she went through in life. The history. 1916. Raised in the that time. She even talks about the Black and Tans. All the stories we hear of in history she experienced so much of in her life. 'She loved to have the minister of the eucharist come to her in the parish. I have always been impressed by the care Marian and Anthony gave to her. 'This day three weeks ago I went up to visit her after the ten o'clock mass here. We brought her communion and we anointed her. And I said 'I hear you have a big birthday coming up.' And she had a lovely big smile. I said 'when were you born?.' She said 'the 24th of July 1916.' 'She was full of joy living life to the full. It was wonderful to see the type of person she was. 'She was always a lady with a great sense of fun. She loved people and she loved chatting with them. 'She kept herself informed with current affairs. Radio Éireann and Liveline. She was always one step ahead with the quick retort.' Offertory gifts at the 10am mass included holy water, signifying Sarah's deep faith, a 'talking book', seeds to represent her love of gardening and a picture of Sarah with her family on the occasion of her 100th birthday. As a young woman Sarah worked in Foxrock in Dublin where she was employed as a housekeeper. She met her husband Tom Coyle at a dance. He was a native of Cavan who worked as a postman until ill health set in in his late fifties. The couple lived in Drumcondra, and had four children, two of whom died as newborns. Mrs Coyle became the oldest person in Ireland following the death on March 20th last in Letterkenny in Co Donegal of 109-year-old Ruby Druce. Sarah Coyle is survived by her two adult children, her son in law, her grandchildren, great grandchildren, extended family and friends. She was pre-deceased by eight of her nine siblings. After her funeral mass today she was laid to rest in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.
BreakingNews.ie
16-07-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Ireland's oldest person dies aged 108
The death has occurred of a 108-year-old Irish woman who lived through two pandemics, the Irish Civil War and the War of Independence. Sarah Coyle was a native of Knockatomcoyle, Co Wicklow but resided with her daughter Marian Galligan in Castleknock in Dublin. She passed away peacefully on Monday surrounded by her family. Advertisement Mrs Coyle, who was born in the year of the Easter Rising, is understood to have been the oldest person in the country. Sarah, who had the maiden name Byrne, was born on July 24th, 1916 and grew up in Coolkenno before moving to Dublin as a teenager. In an interview with The Irish Times in April, her daughter Marian said that her mother had a very strong memory of the the Black and Tans, the British Forces who operated in Ireland during the War of Independence from 1919 to 1921. 'When she was very young, the Black and Tans came around and brought her grandfather James out. They were going to shoot him at the gable end [of the house] – for no reason, they were just going around doing purges,' Ms Galligan said. Advertisement "He blessed himself and he said, 'Blessed be the will of God'.' At this point the leader of the group told his men, 'Put down your guns.' They left him there, they didn't shoot him. It wasn't the will of God,' Ms Galligan said. Mrs Coyle hailed from a family of 10. Many of her siblings also lived long lives. Her sister Lily Kelly who resides in Solihull in the UK turned 103 earlier this year whilst her brother Andy Byrne lived to 100. Meanwhile, as a young woman Sarah worked in Foxrock in Dublin where she was employed as a housekeeper. She met her husband Tom Coyle at a dance. He was a native of Cavan who died in the mid 1980s. He worked as a postman until ill health set in in his late 50s. The couple lived in Drumcondra. They had four children two of whom died as newborns. Advertisement The grandmother and great grandmother lost her sight in her early 30s. Sarah rarely drank other than the odd sherry 'to be sociable". She attributed her longevity to the habit of her mother of putting the first nettles of spring in to their cabbage to 'purify their blood". Mrs Coyle became the oldest person in Ireland following the death on March 20th last in Letterkenny in Co Donegal of Ruby Druce. Ms Druce was 109 years and 79 days at the time of her passing. She lived on her own until she was 98.
Irish Examiner
16-07-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
Ireland's oldest woman Sarah Coyle dies at the age of 108
The death has occurred of a 108-year-old Irish woman who lived through two pandemics, the Irish Civil War, and the War of Independence. Sarah Coyle, a native of Knockatomcoyle, Co Wicklow, had been living with her daughter Marian Galligan in Castleknock, Dublin. She passed away peacefully on Monday, surrounded by her family. Mrs Coyle, who was born in the year of the Easter Rising, is understood to have been the oldest person in the country. Sarah, whose maiden name was Byrne, was born on July 24, 1916, and grew up in Coolkenno before moving to Dublin as a teenager. In an interview with The Irish Times in April, her daughter Marian said her mother had a strong memory of the Black and Tans, the British forces who operated in Ireland during the War of Independence from 1919 to 1921. 'When she was very young, the Black and Tans came around and brought her grandfather James out. They were going to shoot him at the gable end [of the house] – for no reason, they were just going around doing purges,' Ms Galligan said. "He blessed himself and he said, 'Blessed be the will of God'. At this point, the leader of the group told his men, 'Put down your guns. They left him there; they didn't shoot him. It wasn't the will of God,' Ms Galligan said. Mrs Coyle came from a family of ten. Many of her siblings also lived long lives. Her sister Lily Kelly, who resides in Solihull, UK, turned 103 earlier this year, while her brother Andy Byrne lived to 100. As a young woman, Sarah worked as a housekeeper in Foxrock, Dublin, and met her husband Tom Coyle at a dance. He was a native of Cavan and died in the mid-1980s. He had worked as a postman until ill health set in during his late fifties. The couple lived in Drumcondra and had four children, two of whom died as newborns. The grandmother and great-grandmother lost her sight in her early thirties. Sarah rarely drank, other than an occasional sherry 'to be sociable.' She attributed her long life to her mother's tradition of adding the first nettles of spring to cabbage 'to purify the blood.' Mrs Coyle became the oldest person in Ireland following the death of Ruby Druce on March 20 in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. Ms Druce was 109 years and 79 days old at the time of her passing and had lived independently until the age of 98.
Irish Independent
02-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Iconic Cork viaduct could soon be back in use
The Chetwynd Viaduct, which stands at 91 feet high and 110 feet wide, has been a major landmark on the N71 road, which connects the city to the western towns of Bandon, Clonakilty and Skibbereen. It formed a key part of the Great Southern and Western Railway network. The viaduct was designed by Charles Nixon and built between 1849 and 1851 by the same company that constructed the iconic Crystal Palace in London, and in 1955, saw Mick Barry throw a road bowl over the bridge in front of 6,000 eyewitnesses, in a story that goes down in Cork folklore. The bridge was also badly damaged during the Irish Civil War, but has been in a further state of disrepair since its closure in 1961, and despite campaigns to restore its use as a rail bridge on the route to West Cork, it has not been lying idle. Noe it could now be serving a brand-new purpose as public consultation has opened on the proposed Cork to Kinsale Greenway, which will display the Emerging Preferred Route, due to take in the Chetwynd Viaduct. Members of the public can see the route and give their feedback by visiting while there will also be three in-person public consultations. Each of the public events will take place from 2 pm until 8 pm at the following locations: Riverstick Community Centre, Riverstick on Tuesday, July 8. Acton's Hotel, Kinsale on Tuesday, July 15. Viaduct Restaurant & Bar, Old Bandon Road on Tuesday, July 22. 'This is a significant project that aims to provide a sustainable, accessible, safe and attractive Greenway for locals and visitors to travel between two important destinations,' said the newly-elected Mayor of Cork County, Mary Linehan Foley. 'Identifying the Emerging Preferred Route Corridor is a major milestone in the progression of the project. I encourage landowners within the corridor to participate in this public consultation, it is important to meet with the project team and express your views on the greenway.' The public consultation is open until August 15, 2025.
Irish Times
30-06-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Worldwide interest expected as 19th-century Irish census records recovered and put online
The fire that destroyed the Public Records Office during the Irish Civil War also destroyed 700 years worth of records. Chancery records detailing British rule in Ireland going back to the 14th century and grants of land by the crown along with thousands of wills, title deeds and parish registers were incinerated when a fire broke out in the grounds of the Four Courts, which held the PRO, on June 30th, 1922. By common consent the worst loss of all was the pre-famine 19th-century census records. In an act of unparalleled archival vandalism the British authorities had destroyed the 1861 and 1871 census records so that they could not be used for the 'gratification of curiosity'. The 1881 and 1891 censuses were pulped during the first World War because of the shortage of paper. The British saw the censuses as purely a numbers game, not a valuable archive for future research. That left the pre-famine censuses of 1821, 1831 and 1841 still intact, but these were almost entirely destroyed in the fire. READ MORE The Virtual Treasury project was set up to try to recover as many of the lost documents as possible. Hundreds of thousands of documents have been retrieved where copies have been found in archives elsewhere, but the census records were always the priority. Thanks to years of work on the part of Brian Gurrin, the treasury's population and census specialist, some 60,000 names and counting have been recovered from 19th-century censuses. Four volumes from the 1821 census survived the fire, including the entire records for the Aran Islands, and have been in the National Archives of Ireland since. The Aran Islands was entirely Irish-speaking at the time, but the names are all recorded in English. They were available previously on microfilm, but that necessitated a visit to the National Archives. 'Brian's detective work has given them a whole new lease of life,' said Zoë Reid, the keeper of manuscripts at the National Archives of Ireland. They have now been digitised. Other copies have been found from diligent genealogists who would copy census records for research purposes. 'We talk about 60,000 names, but there are many, many more to go in. We haven't finished the process,' said Mr Gurrin. Virtual Record Treasury co-director Ciarán Wallace added: 'When we go to county libraries as part of a roadshow, the first question is, 'have you found the census yet?'. We have put a huge effort into finding anything we can of the censuses,' he said All the census names have been looked at individually and entered by hand. No machine learning or AI was used. All the census data has been consolidated in the population portal. Everywhere that a name or names have been recovered is denoted with a pin where users can zoom in to reveal the details. The interest is not only within Ireland. Tens of millions of people, especially in the United States, are descended from 19th-century Irish emigrants. Half of all visitors to the virtual treasury come from abroad. The census records are part of 175,000 new historical records that will be available from Monday, June 30th, the 103rd anniversary of the Public Records fire. The project has been led by Trinity College Dublin and supported by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport and the National Archives of Ireland. Also included in the release is the Age of Revolution portal which includes contemporary accounts from the Irish House of Commons about the American revolution and the 1798 rebellion, five million words of Anglo-Norman (1170-1500) Irish history translated into English and more than 10 million words on governing Ireland in the dramatic years following Cromwell's death. Virtual Record Treasury academic director Dr Peter Crooks described the recovery of 60,000 census names as a 'tremendous achievement. What we have uncovered after years of painstaking archival work will help families across the world trace their story deeper into the Irish past.' He added: 'The scale, scope and significance of these materials is remarkable. They will be of huge interest to anyone exploring Ireland's story as a global island.'
