Ballycastle bade their fond farewells to Ireland’s oldest citizen last week as Molly Madden was laid to rest in her 110th year.

Her passing two weekends ago in the Moy Ridge Nursing Home in Ballina was met with sadness throughout Mayo and beyond. She made history last year when she became Mayo’s oldest ever living person on August 25, overtaking the previous record of 108 years and 260 days held by Ballindine native Helena Gibbons.

Madden became the oldest person living in Ireland in December 2014 following the death of Kildare woman Margaret O’Connell at the age of 109 years. In July, she became the oldest living Irish woman following the death of Kathleen Snavely (nee Haynes), originally from Co. Clare, who died aged 113 years in Syracuse.

There were further celebrations for Madden and her family when she celebrated her 109th birthday on Dec 8 in the Moy Ridge Nursing Home.

Madden (nee Keane) was born in Galway on December 8, 1906. At the age of three, she and her family moved to the village of Kincon in north Mayo. She later moved to Ballycastle for work and married local man Pat Madden, who died in 2009. They had four children.