5 August 2002
Margaret puts 105 years down to whiskey
WIDOW Margaret Gannon, who celebrated her I05th birthday at St Mary’s hospital in Castleblayney, yesterday, revealed that her recipe for a long life was a whiskey a day.
“There’s nothing better than a wee whiskey with a drop of ginger ale to keep you going, it’s a life-saver,” quipped Margaret.
The Co Monaghan woman, who has spent the last few years at the hospital (which cares for elderly patients), is remarkably agile for her age .
She still takes a deep interest in current affairs and was described as Ireland’s oldest voter in the recent general election, when hospital staff took her in a wheelchair to a polling booth.
Margaret emigrated to America when she was 17 to become a nurse and tend injured US servicemen returning from the First World War. She fell in love with a Irish-born policeman in New York and married him.
He died several years ago, after which she returned to Ireland to live with her brother in Castleblayney. After his death, she moved into the local hospital for care.
Margaret, who received hundreds of congratulatory messages over the Bank Holiday weekend, said: “I’ve had a wonderful life, and I’m very happy here. The staff are great and look after me very well.”
Apr 20 2003
One of Ireland’s oldest women dies
One of the oldest women in the country has died in Co Monaghan. Margaret Gannon, a widow who was in her 106th year, died early today at St Mary’s Hospital in Castleblaney.
Mrs Gannon was a native of the area who had spent several years nursing in the United States.
Ireland's Oldest People 