'She was full of kindness' — Tributes paid after country's oldest person dies, aged 109

Mairin Hughes died peacefully after a short illness at Maryfield nursing home in Chapelizod, Dublin, her home for over 30 years. Picture: Marc O'Sullivan

Tributes have been paid following the death of the woman believed to have been Ireland’s oldest person, with those who cared for her describing her as “an inspirational lady who taught us so much about life”.

Máirín Hughes, 109, died peacefully after a short illness at Maryfield nursing home in Chapelizod, Dublin, her home for over 30 years. “She was full of knowledge and kindness. She cared deeply about nature, giving back to her local community and religion played a large part of her life,” staff there said.

Ms Hughes was born in Belfast on May 22, 1914, just two months before the beginning of the first World War. She spent her early childhood years in Dublin, where her father worked as a customs officer before the family moved to Killarney in Co. Kerry where she was raised.

She lived through the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919 and recalled dropping food supplies to the doorstep of sick neighbours with her older brothers Ruaridh and Conn before “running away.” 

She recalled the Black and Tans patrolling parts of Killarney in 1921, the Free State soldiers arriving in 1922, and attending the 1932 Eucharistic Congress with her family.

She qualified with a BSc from University College Cork (UCC) in 1935 and a Higher Diploma in Education in 1939, at a time when science and STEM subjects were not widely studied by women. She worked in the pathology lab in UCC’s Department of Medicine for 14 years before marrying her husband Frank in 1950.

The couple then moved to Dublin, where she pursued a career as a secondary school science teacher, before moving back to Cork, and then Killarney, which is where they were living when Frank retired.

Máirín was honoured with a UCC Alumni Achievement Award in 2018 when she was UCC’s oldest known science graduate.

Positive attitude

She celebrated her 109th birthday at the nursing home in May with a sing-song, cake, and a few cups of tea in a vintage tea bus that arrived at the nursing home, before she gave a series of interviews in which she revealed the secret of her long and happy life — a positive attitude.

“You learn a certain amount and you do advance that way, and you learn to cope with situations,” she said. She played Scrabble and did a crossword almost every day, she loved history, birdwatching, and possessed a sharp wit.

In a statement, the nursing home said: “All at Maryfield including management, staff, residents and religious sisters would like to take the opportunity to say that Maírín was an inspirational lady who taught us so much about life.

“She was full of knowledge and kindness. She cared deeply about nature, giving back to her local community and religion played a large part of her life. She lived all of her 109 years to the fullest and we will miss her every day.”