Very few people can say they’ve lived through two pandemics and the Irish Civil War, but Sarah Coyle can.
Believed to be Ireland’s oldest person, Ms Coyle is due to celebrate her 109th birthday this summer. She was born on July 24th, 1916.
The 108-year-old grew up in Co Wicklow. She currently lives with her daughter, Marian Galligan, in Castleknock, Dublin.
Ms Galligan said her mother has memories of significant periods in Irish history, including the Civil War (1922-1923) and even the War of Independence (1919-1921).
Ms Coyle has one particularly vivid memory of the Black and Tans, British forces operating in Ireland during the War of Independence who were notorious for their violence.
“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 apparently changed his mind and 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.
Ms Coyle also remembers one occasion during the Civil War when all the men in the area called James were rounded up.
“They were trying to question them all to see if somebody, a James, had killed one of their comrades,” Ms Galligan said.
Ms Coyle doesn’t remember exactly who came to the door but, as her father was also called James, he was among those taken away.
“At dawn, they burst into the house and only let him put on his trousers and his boots. They were all marched off up the mountains,” Ms Galligan said.
His family feared the worst but thankfully he wasn’t hurt, arriving home several hours later.
Ms Coyle had nine siblings, some of whom also lived to incredible ages. 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. Her birthplace is notable because she would go on to marry a Cavan man named Tom Coyle.
As a young adult, Ms Coyle moved to Foxrock to become a housekeeper. It was at a dance in Dún Laoghaire that she met her future husband.
After they married, they moved to Drumcondra. The couple had four children, but sadly two of their daughters died as newborns.
Ms Galligan’s brother Patrick lives in Melbourne, Australia. Ms Coyle has five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, with another due shortly.
Ms Coyle lost her eyesight in her early 30s. The cause was not entirely clear but she believes it may have been down to an incident years earlier where she was accidentally hit in the face.
“The optic nerve was destroyed,” Ms Galligan said. “It wouldn’t happen nowadays, but this was 70 years ago.”
Ms Coyle’s husband, Tom, worked as a postman until he had a stroke in his late 50s, followed by a brain haemorrhage.
Ms Galligan recalls how her father had looked after her mother up to that point but that, then, their roles were largely reversed.
Ms Coyle rarely drank but had the odd sherry “to be sociable”, her daughter said.
So, what does she attribute her longevity to?
“Every spring her mother used to go out and get the first nettles that would come out, the new nettles,” Ms Galligan said.
“She used to put them in the cabbage. She used to say, ‘that will purify your blood’.
“You see nettle tea and things like that nowadays, maybe she was on to something.”
