Ireland’s oldest person, Sarah Coyle, who died at the age of 108 this week was remembered at her funeral mass today as the “personification of sunshine”.
Mrs Coyle lived through two pandemics, the Irish Civil War and the War of Independence. She was a native of Knockatomcoyle, Co Wicklow, but resided with her daughter Marian Galligan in Castleknock in Dublin.
She passed away peacefully on Monday surrounded by her family.
Her granddaughter Anne Marie told mourners at St Brigid’s Church in Blanchardstown in Dublin that her ‘Nana’ was the “personification of sunshine”.
“You felt her warmth. She radiated a positive energy and you would be left with a glow from simply basking in her presence. Like the song goes she made you happy when skies were grey.”
Anne Marie said that her grandmother had lost her sight by the age of 40.
“Despite living in total darkness for much of her long life she brought light to so many. She was a masterclass in resilience.”
Anne Marie said that her grandmother was a person of many skills.
Mrs Coyle, who was widowed in 1968, was a “talented seamstress and avid gardener”.
Meanwhile, her son-in-law Anthony said that Mrs Coyle often marvelled at her longevity.
“She used to say ‘I can’t believe I’m 100 years old and I’m still here. I wonder if God has forgotten about me?’ And we would say ‘Far from it. He hasn’t forgotten about you. But you still have important work on Earth and he is leaving you here’.”
“She would break in to a lovely smile and say ‘I suppose he will call me when he needs me’.”
Anthony said that his mother in law had a great sense of fun and would want her funeral to be a happy event.
Her remembered her “lovely smile and kind words” and indicated that she was a role model to her loved ones.
“By the age of 40 she was almost totally blind. You would think that was, as a parent of a young family, a tremendous challenge. I can only imagine what it must have been like.
“She quickly gathered herself. She said there was two choices ‘I could either go under or spend the rest of my life feeling sorry for myself’. She was an inspiration.”
As a young woman Sarah worked in Foxrock in Dublin where she was employed as a housekeeper. She met her husband Tom Coyle at a dance. He was a native of Cavan who worked as a postman until ill health set in in his late 50s.
The couple lived in Drumcondra. They had four children, two of whom died as newborns.
Meanwhile, Fr John Gilligan, who celebrated the mass, said that it was being watched online by Sarah’s 103-year-old sister Lily, who is based in Birmingham in England, and by her son Patrick who resides in Melbourne, Australia.
Fr Gilligan said that they were in the church to celebrate a “life well lived”.
“Almost 109 years of life. What changes she would have seen from the Ireland of 1916 to the Ireland of today.
“When you look at her life she was one who lived it to the full. Her advice to people was ‘don’t bear grudges. Be kind to people’.
“We think of all the things she went through in life. The history. 1916. Raised in that time. She even talks about the Black and Tans. All the stories we hear of in history, she experienced so much of in her life.”
Offertory gifts at the mass included holy water signifying her deep faith, a ‘talking book’, seeds to represent her love of gardening and a picture of Mrs Coyle with her family on the occasion of her 100th birthday.
Mrs Coyle is survived by her two adult children, her son in law, her grandchildren, great grandchildren, extended family and friends. She was pre-deceased by eight of her nine siblings.
She was laid to rest in Glasnevin cemetery in Dublin this afternoon.