Oldest woman in Ireland has died 'peacefully at home' at the age of 109

Ruby Druce survived two world wars and two global pandemics

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The oldest woman in Ireland has sadly died at the age of 109.

When Ruby Druce celebrated her birthday last New Year’s Eve, she recalled her long life and said she only drank once – some poitín to beat Spanish flu in 1918. She was the last person in Ireland who had survived two world wars and two global pandemics - Spanish flu of 1918-20 and Covid-19 of 2019-23.

Ruby, who was 109, was born in Castlefin, Co Donegal, in 1915, and died this morning, her family announced. Her wake will be at her niece Carmel Harran’s home today from 6pm to 9pm, and tomorrow from 12pm until 9pm, with funeral on Sunday at 12pm in St Mary’s Church, Castlefin. Burial will be in the adjoining cemetery.

The family notice said Ruby died “peacefully at home, surrounded by her loving family. May her gentle soul rest in peace.” She was predeceased by her parents George and Lizzie, her husband Jim, brothers Geordie and James, and sisters Maggie and Molly.

Apart from that drop of poitín when she caught Spanish flu 107 years ago, Ruby never smoked or drank. She was only a toddler when her life was threatened by Spanish flu, the global pandemic that infected a fifth of the world's population and killed 50 million people over a century ago

The lifelong pioneer was widowed for 55 years since her husband passed away in 1970. She attributed her long life to walking, hard work, and cod liver oil capsules. Ruby said on her 109th birthday: “I never thought in all my years of living that I would live as long.”

Country singer Daniel O’Donnell, 63, became a friend over the years and visited her to sing happy birthday. When Daniel visited for her 109th birthday, he and Ruby sang The Homes of Donegal together.

Ruby and her husband Jim Druce, a musician from Scotland, were childhood sweethearts when they met, aged just 14, in 1929. They married in 1956 and would go to the seaside together in Donegal town Bundoran on Jim’s Honda 50 motorbike. Ruby left school at 14, around the same time as she met Jim, to work in a local shirt factory for more than four decades until she quit to care for her ageing shoemaker father George.

After Jim’s death, she lived alone at home until 2023 when she fell and broke her hip. She then moved in with her niece Carmel and Carmel's husband Martin Harran, who revealed that Spanish flu killed two of Ruby’s siblings, just a month after WW2 ended.Her six-week-old baby sister Mary Elizabeth and her two-year-old brother James both died within the same week before Christmas 1918.

Martin said just weeks ago: “She's a very special lady. The most significant event for Ruby’s family was the arrival of the Spanish flu. Although Ruby was just short of her third birthday, she vividly remembers James with his blond curly hair and the two coffins in the house. She herself fondly tells the story of how she escaped the Spanish flu by her father giving her a couple of teaspoons of poitín, the only time in her life when she tasted alcohol. Ruby has been a pioneer for 94 years which must be another record.”

When Ruby received her centenarian’s cheque from the President on her 100th birthday, bighearted Ruby donated it to local charities. She received nine commemorative coins from the President of Ireland.

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