THE oldest Irish person in history has died at the age of 113 years and 140 days.
Kathleen Hayes Rollins Snavely died in New York, her home of many years, yesterday, having overtaken the previous record holder in March.
Annie Scott of Co. Tyrone (1883 to 1996) was 113 years and 37 days when she died; an age that made her the oldest Irish person for almost 20 years.
Aside from her national record in Ireland, Kathleen was also the sixth longest lived person in the US – and sixteenth in the world.
Born in Feakle, Co. Clare, in 1902, Kathleen was 19 years old when she moved to the US to live with her maternal uncle in Syracuse, New York. Little did she know at the time that she would spend the next 94 years living here.
She started out her American dream working in a department store and went on to marry her first husband Roxie Rollins.
Together, the pair found success in the business world when they established Seneca Dairy in Syracuse – which went on to become an extremely profitable venture.
Kathleen at 98 years of age, pictured in November 2000 (Photo Syracuse University)Following Roxie’s death in 1968, Kathleen found herself with a second chance at love when she was proposed to by Jesse Clarke Snavely Jr.
She accepted, marrying him at 68 years of age. Again, she would outlive her husband by several years.
Kathleen lived independently in a residential tower in Syracuse until after her 100th birthday and spent the last 13 years of her life living at the Centers at St. Camillus in Geddes, near to Syracuse where she lived most of her life.
It was here where she passed away peacefully yesterday (July 6).
Coincidentally, Kathleen's death came on the same day that the world's oldest man also passed away.
Sakari Momoi died yesterday in Japan aged 112.
Back in February, Kathleen celebrated her 113th birthday by joining in on a rendition of When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.
