A RESIDENT of a county Limerick nursing home can confidently say that the doctors got it worng when they said she would not survive an operation at the age of six. Instead Annie Kett has not only survived but gone on to become Ireland’s oldest woman aged 107.
Born in The Glen in Killaloe in 1905, Annie celebrated her 107th birthday on November 1 last, surrounded by her family and grandchildren.
As a young woman, she went to London to train as a nurse and returned home to settle in Kilkishen with her husband, the late John Kett. She lived with her daughter, Peig (Margaret) Courtney in county Limerick before taking up residence in the Thorpes nursing home where she is in good health and form.
Annie married John in 1937 and they settled two and half miles outside Kilkishen, where they had a farm and raised their three children, Margaret and their twin boys, John (RIP) and Pat.
Described as a determined and quiet person who makes the best of life, Annie enjoys knitting, sewing and crochet.
Speaking about her mother’s secret to longevity, Peig said, “She would say hard work, trust in God and loads of tea – she’s a tea addict”.
Healthy living may also have played a big part as Mrs Kett never smoked, drank, stuck to a plain diet with no additives and never took tablets. Even now, her daughter said, she is not on any medication.
