{"id":336718,"date":"2026-03-09T09:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T09:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/336718\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T09:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T09:58:08","slug":"irelands-oldest-man-to-lead-local-parade-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/336718\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s oldest man to lead local parade \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland\u2019s oldest man, Paddy Claffey, attributes his longevity to hard work and a good appetite. It probably also helps that he has never drunk alcohol and gave up smoking when he was 45.<\/p>\n

Although his mobility is \u201cnot so good\u201d, the 104-year-old enjoys an active life and still lives in his own home.<\/p>\n

On St Patrick\u2019s Day, Paddy will be the grand marshall of the parade in Clara, Co Offaly.<\/p>\n

Born on April 17th, 1921, in his \u201chome house\u201d in the townland of Noggusboy near Ferbane in Co Offaly, Paddy was the youngest of 10 children, with six sisters and three brothers. When he was 13, his appendix burst and he spent 30 days in hospital. \u201cI never went back to school,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

\" Paddy on his wedding day with his wife Margaret. <\/p>\n

He began working with his father cutting turf for sale. \u201cI also worked with the Board of Works driving a dragline, and on the buildings in Ferbane including St Cynoc\u2019s Terrace and the boys\u2019 school. After that I worked with Offaly County Council for 24 years until retirement at the age of 65.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paddy married Margaret in October 1953. \u201cShe was a Wexford woman who had come to work with the bank manager\u2019s family in Ferbane. She was their housekeeper and cared for their children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe made the best brown bread. We had apple trees in the garden and she used to make tarts.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first baby was a little girl called Margaret, she died at three months from spina bifida. We had three children after that, Kieran, Br\u00edd and Patrick. There are four grandchildren \u2013 Fiona, Adrian, Liam and Shane \u2013 and six great-grandchildren, Conor, Holly, Isabel, Dara, Shay and Pa\u00edd\u00ed.<\/p>\n

\"PaddyPaddy Claffey at home Co Offaly, with his great-grandchildren, Conor (5) and Holly Griffin (3) and twins Isabel and Dara Griffin (15 months), and Pa\u00edd\u00ed (2) and Shay (4) Claffey. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien <\/p>\n

\u201cMy health is very good, my mind is 100 per cent,\u201d he says, though his hearing is not great. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was blessed with good health. I have a great appetite and I love my food. I\u2019m very lucky to have great family who look after me so well.\u201d <\/p>\n

Paddy\u2019s earliest memory is when he was four years of age and his sister Mary Ann got married and went to live with her husband Jack Bell in the canal lock house in Glyn. \u201cShe was very lonely so she brought me to live with them. <\/p>\n

\u201cI remember I couldn\u2019t sleep at night with the noise of the water falling down in the lock gates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Mary Ann and Jack had their first baby I came back home to live in Noggusboy. <\/p>\n

Another early memory is accompanying his father and brothers as they worked on a garden. The lady of the house brought out a stool for the little boy to sit on, put a coat around him and offered him some freshly cooked ham. He liked it so much that he kept it gripped in his hands all afternoon until he could bring it home for his mother, who he feared might have been lonely without him.<\/p>\n

That story illustrates his father\u2019s kindness says Paddy\u2019s son Patrick, who stays with Paddy most weekends.<\/p>\n

\"PaddyPaddy Claffey holding two of his great grandchildren, fifteen-week old twins Isabel and Dara Griffin. Also in photo (from left) Fiona Griffin (granddaughter) and her son Conor (5), Patrick Claffey (Paddy\u2019s son), Adrian Claffey (grandson) with his two boys Shay (4) and Paidi (2) Claffey and Janet Claffey (Patrick\u2019s wife) with Holly Griffin (3). Photo: Bryan O\u2019Brien \/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n

During the day he stays with his daughter Br\u00edd in Portumna. \u201cI get up around 10 o\u2019clock each morning,\u201d he says, adding that when the weather is good, he likes to go out on his mobility scooter for fresh air. <\/p>\n

He reads the paper every day, watches GAA and soccer on TV and keeps abreast of Tullamore mart via his tablet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m in my own home in Noggusboy, I love to go with [son] Kieran in the jeep when he is doing the farming, looking after the cattle and feeding and looking after the horses,\u201d he says. \u201cI also love to drive my quad on the farm.\u201d<\/p>\n

He returns to his own home at the end of every day, with one of the family staying overnight. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t spent a night alone since Mam died [in 2004],\u201d says Patrick.<\/p>\n

Every night since he was aged six, Paddy has recited a prayer when he goes to bed. He can still recite it word perfect after almost 99 years. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s oldest man, Paddy Claffey, attributes his longevity to hard work and a good appetite. It probably also…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43,8286,63762],"class_list":["post-336718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-offaly","tag-st-patricks-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}