109-year-old dies in Co Galway

Ireland's second-oldest person, 109-year-old Ms Brigid Derrane, who was jailed after the Easter Rising, has died in Galway.

Ireland's second-oldest person, 109-year-old Ms Brigid Derrane, who was jailed after the Easter Rising, has died in Galway.

She was born on the Aran Islands, off Co Galway, and six years ago became the oldest woman to receive a honorary degree from an Irish university.

A friend of independence figures Patrick Pearse and Kevin Barry, she emigrated to the United States after serving a three-month prison term.

Years later she worked on President John F Kennedy's election campaign.

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She returned to Ireland in the 1960s. At the age of 103 she was awarded an honorary arts degree by Galway University.

She had been living for some years at a nursing home in Galway, where she died today.