109-year-old Galway woman dies

One of the oldest people in Ireland, Galway woman Brigid Derrane, has died at the age of 109.

Ms Derrane, who was born Brigid Gillen on Inismore in 1894, made history in 1998 when she became the oldest person in Ireland to be conferred with an honorary degree.

The Aran Islands native was an active republican in her youth and was imprisoned in Mountjoy Jail in 1916.

She later emigrated to the United States where she befriended and campaigned on behalf of President John F Kennedy in Boston.

Ms Derrane passed away this morning at the St Francis nursing home in Galway city.