Michael O’Connor, one of Ireland’s oldest men, passed away at the age of 108. Mr. O’Connor would have turned 109 in October and was born in 1913 in Glencar, south Kerry.
Who was Michael O’Connor?
A friend of his family verified that he passed away this morning in the Kenmare Community Hospital in County Kerry.
At his residence in Muckross, she claimed he had “rude good health” up until quite recently.
On October 21, Mr. O’Connor, who is thought to be the oldest man alive in Ireland, would have turned 109.
When he was a young man, he emigrated from Ireland to pursue a job as a radio operator during World War Two. While serving in the Merchant Navy, Mr. O’Connor travelled the globe and endured both the Japanese blockade of The Bay of Bengal and a German U-boat that sank his ship.
He was one of the oldest survivors of the Spanish flu, the previous pandemic to strike Europe, which he caught as a small child.
Tragically, while he recovered from the disease, his mother did not.
How did Michael O’Connor die?
At the Kenmare Community Hospital, Michael O’Connor passed away this morning in his own county.
At his house in Muckross, Mr. O’Connor enjoyed “rude excellent health” up until very recently, according to a member of the family who confirmed his death to RTE News.
What makes his death memorable?
When Mr. O’Connor contracted the Spanish Flu at age 6, doctors didn’t think he would survive.
The native of Kerry remembered how, despite all the odds, he overcame the infection to survive while his mother passed away.
He earlier stated: “We had no special name for it; it was just flu,” when speaking to reporter Brian O’Connell on RTE Radio 1’s Today With Claire Byrne. “Mam first got it, then I did. Mam unfortunately didn’t make it. Despite not being anticipated to, I managed to get away okay.
“As a young fella I could see them crying after me, I was dying,” he claimed, referring to the fatal disease as “double pneumonia. “Mr. O’Connor served in radio operations on a boat during World War 2, and he also saw action in the American Civil War and World War 1.
There were always challenging times, but he thought the Covid-19 pandemic had an unparalleled impact on the entire world. “There has never been a moment when it wasn’t difficult for some people or for certain groups of people, but we have never gone through a global crisis like we are right now.
“Every nation and individual are impacted. In the past, there might occasionally be epidemics here and there, but never the entire planet at once.
Tributes to Michael O’Connor
As soon as word of his passing spread, tributes poured in.
“Rest in Peace, my old friend,” one friend added. a genuine gentleman in every way. All those who knew you will sadly miss you. Another person added, “A lovely soul. Michael, please go in peace.
The Covid-19 epidemic was just one of many extraordinary occurrences that the Kerryman lived a full life and survived.
In February 2021, as he received the Pfizer vaccine at the Deenagh Medical Practice in Killarney, Mr. O’Connor was photographed giving the medical staff a thumbs up.
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He was the oldest man in Ireland and had lived through the Spanish flu epidemic more than a century ago, so he was familiar with the events that took place after the pandemic.
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