Cork woman, aged 100: ‘I wore lipstick once, on my wedding day’

IT’S not surprising that Ninny (Nellie) Long celebrated and thoroughly enjoyed her 100th birthday with family and friends earlier this month.

The chatty, perky lady from Killeagh has a happy disposition and has lived an interesting and fulfilled life, pouring love on other people as she grew old.

There is another reason Ninny has lived to a ripe old age.

“I had a great husband,” she says. “It was love at first sight”.

The love between Ninny and Micky was a match made in heaven.

“Micky was marvellous,” says Ninny, her bright eyes gleaming remembering the love of her life.

“He was a one-off.”

“And he was a great dad,” chimes in Ninny’s daughter, Claire.

Ninny was born in Barry’s Cove, near Knockdown, Co Cork, on February 4, 1924.

“The place has gone with the tide,” she says “it was on the edge of a cliff. You could fall onto the rocks if you weren’t careful.”

She has lived a simple, happy life.

“There were five of us. My brother Richard died age 21 of TB,” says Ninny.

We all lived in one room until we built a house in Knockadoon. My father was a fisherman and we walked three miles to school in Kilmacdonagh together, come rain or hail, and three miles to Mass too.

Times were different then.

“In school, the poorer children sat at the back of the classroom while the well-off sat at the front. And in church the women and the men often sat on opposite sides of the church, with the children in front of the mother. That’s the way it was.”

Ninny, always industrious, worked at home as a young girl before she was employed by McGuanes drapery store in Youghal.

“I looked after the children, Joe, Olive and Maura,” she says.

“Olive was deaf and dumb, and Maura couldn’t walk. Tragically, Joe, who became a priest, was killed by a bus in Castlemartyr coming from Cork.”

Ninny, a people person, a giver and a carer, bonded with her young charges.

“I was very fond of them, and I spent 13 years with the family.”

When Ninny’s sister, Hanny, got married at Ballymacoda Church, Ninny spotted Micky across a crowded room.

“I was bridesmaid and Micky was the best man,” says Ninny.

It was a whirlwind romance.

“We courted for nine weeks and then we got married in St Peter and Paul’s Church, Cork,” says Ninny.

Pastures new beckoned and she and Micky, armed with true love, dreams and ambitions, travelled to the UK.

“Micky was very hard-working,” says Ninny. “He was only six years old when his mother died.

“He worked as a farm labourer for the same family for years.

Claire and Aidan were born in the UK, and we made the decision to return to Ireland for the children’s education.

While the grass was green at home in East Cork, the grass back in the UK at the time seemed greener. Fate took a hand when a relation of the Lees Millais family in Wiltshire requested Ninny to have an interview with them with a view to looking after their children, David, Johanna, Colin, Patrick and Fiona.

“They were good years,” says Ninny. “Claire ended up working with the same family and they are coming next week to visit me. They were always very good to me.”

The Lees Millais family knew from the get-go that they had found a gem in Ninny.

This remarkable lady has led a charmed life.

For my 80th birthday, myself and Claire were given the present of a Mediterranean cruise! We had a lovely time.

For her 100th birthday, Ninny received a personal letter together with a cheque for €2,540 from President Higgins. She was also the recipient of undivided attention and jubilation from family, friends and extended family from near and far, all in party mode when she celebrated the landmark.

“The icing decorations on top of my cake displayed all my hobbies,” says Ninny.

While the grass may often appear greener on the other side, the expanse of green fields miles from anywhere, where the Lees Millais family lived in England, could be a lonely station.

“It was a lonely place to live,” admits Ninny.

She was homeward bound, and not one to let the grass grow under her feet; very soon she was embraced by another family who fell on their feet.

“The Hickey family were like my own family,” says Ninny.

Fiona, Aoife, Conor and Áine availed of Ninny’s love, her warmth, her wisdom and her wonderful talents. They treasured her.

“Ninny has always been a magnificent friend,” says Fiona Hickey (King).

She is an angel. A gift from heaven above. She is my Ninny, the Ninny that I love.

Love always surrounded Ninny.

“Ninny looked after all four of us when we were small,” says Áine. “She came in 1980 and finished in 2010.”

It was a two-way street paved with love and care.

“We always looked after her as she has no relatives here,” says Áine.

Ninny lived the Good Life.

“She has been to many five-star hotels for afternoon tea with us, as well as to Castlemartyr Resort, Fota, Adare Manor, Dromoland Castle and The Kingsley to name but a few!”

Ninny was always game ball to head off for a treat.

“She loved going for coffee once a week with me, and sometimes with my mam, Liz,” says Áine.

“She loved Carewswood, Ballymaloe Café, Ballyseedy, Clarenbridge, Garryvoe Hotel and Kilkenny Design Café.”

Ninny always had good taste.

“She loved cappuccinos!” says Áine.

Fiona Hickey, who created Ninny’s pet name recalls Ninny’s delicious suppers.

“I remember she cooked delicious sausages, onion and mash!” says Fiona.

Ninny was a dab hand at everything.

“She mended my teddy-bear,” says Fiona. “She made lovely picnic teas, she made the fire, and she made our beds.”

What else does Fiona remember about Ninny, the master of all trades?

“I remember she always had great devotion to St Anthony,” says Fiona.

While Ninny was fortunate to live a fulfilled life filled with love and luck, she also knew sad times.

“I lost Micky way too young,” she says. “I looked after him and he died at home. Our son Aidan died age 21 from cancer. I used to lie down on the floor beside his bed.”

Ninny, a lady with resolve and resilience, bounced back and got on with life.

“I was always a knitter and a baker,” says Ninny, who lived independently until recently, even cooking her own Christmas dinner - roast duck.

“I never bought bread,” she says.

What else did she never do?

“I never wore make-up or lipstick, except for the day of my wedding,” says Ninny, whose skin is as soft as a baby’s cheek.

I couldn’t afford it. And I never went to the hairdresser.

She was blessed with dark, natural, curly hair. “I never drank or smoked,” adds Ninny. 

“I ate three meals a day, and never ate after 6pm. And I don’t have a sweet tooth.”

Here at Youghal and District Nursing Home in Gortroe, she shows me her latest project.

“I’m knitting a scarf for St Patrick’s Day,” says Ninny. “I always have one on the go.”

Ninny, with great DNA, was always on the go.

“Whenever Claire rang me from England, I’d tell her I was busy pottering around.”

A giver and a doer, Ninny says hard work is the secret to a long life.

“Hard work and a good husband goes a long way,” she says. “My own dad was a kind man.”

Ninny, like her late husband, a one-off, is one of a kind.

I do word searches and I say up to five rosaries every morning.

She does something else that keeps her mind sharp.

“I recite my times tables and count from 100 backwards,” she says.

Ninny, who has had a great innings and a meaningful life, has obviously found the best way to find happiness.

“It’s making others happy,” she says.

Ninny’s indomitable spirit never ages. It stays forever young.