Ireland’s oldest person, who celebrated her 109th birthday this week, credits her long life to “hard work, no smoking and no drinking”.
Eileen Hynes was born on December 15th, 1916, in Cullenwaine, near Moneygall in Co Offaly. She is the youngest of four boys and two girls born to William and Mary Jones (née Kelly). Her sister Julia lived to be 98 years of age.
Mrs Hynes is older than the State itself and has lived throughout the reign of five British monarchs, 10 Roman Catholic papacies and 20 US presidencies.
Mrs Hynes has early childhood memories of her family sheltering rebels fleeing from the Black and Tans in their home during the War of Independence.
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These Royal Irish Constabulary officers were known and feared for their brutality against ordinary Irish people and were described by Constance Markievicz as “a terrible force” with the aim “to try to exterminate us”.
While they never visited her childhood home during the War of Independence, which began when she was three-years-old, she said that “the people running from the Black and Tans would call in” and her family would “give them some food and a bit of rest”, but “wouldn’t put them up” overnight.
Mrs Hynes attended school locally before beginning work in the post office in Moneygall. She met her husband William at a house party her cousin hosted, and not long after, in 1939 when she was 23, they married and moved to Coolderry, Co Offaly.
Upon getting married, Mrs Hynes had to resign from her job in the post office due to the “marriage bar” in place at that time. This prohibited married women from working in Civil Service jobs and largely prevented them from working in the private sector too.
Mrs Hyne says “that was the way things were at the time” and she “just had to get on with it”. Life at home was busy enough, she says, and once she started raising her family she didn’t have time to look back and wish she could have kept working.
Hard work took place in unequal measure “inside and outside”, she says, raising her family alongside working on their farm. The Hynes’s farm was split into three lots of land, meaning their cattle grazed some 8km away from their house.
Mr and Mrs Hynes had 10 children, born between 1940 and 1958, with the eldest now 85 years of age and the youngest child 67. From these 10 children came 30 grandchildren, followed by 55 great-grandchildren and now seven great-great-grandchildren.
Her son, Michael (73), is with her as she speaks to The Irish Times the day after the family gathered for a party to celebrate her 109th birthday. “She’s a bit tired today you see,” he says, “what, with all that dancing yesterday”.
Ms Hynes says she’s doing “very well” and feels “happy” to have turned 109. “I’m looking forward to 110 next year,” she adds.
When she turned 100 she received the Centenary Bounty, a gift and signed letter from the President of Ireland, and has received a commemorative coin from the President every year since.
