OLDEST WOMAN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 863, 6 January 1930, Page 13

OLDEST WOMAN

BRITISH PEER’S DAUGHTER MET SIR WALTER SCOTT Believed to be the oldest woman in the British Isles, the Hon. Katherine Plunket reached the age of 109 on November 22. Ballymascanlan, near Dundalk, where Miss Plunket lives, kept the day as a general holiday, and the bell of the parish church rang out as many strokes as she was years old. Miss Plunket is a daughter of the second Baron Plunket, Bishop of Tuam, and her mother, who was married in 1819, must have reached a great age, for she lived until 1893. A World Traveller During her life Miss Plunket has travelled nearly all over the world, and up to a few years ago she drove to church every Sunday in a coach and four. She still retains the control of her household, and each day her cook submits to her the day’s menu, which she examines carefully. She has no “fads” and is a hearty eater of plain foods. Miss Plunket has lived in the reigns of five monarchs. When she was a little girl Sir Walter Scott visited her grandfather’s place, Old Connaught, and she sat on his knee while he chatted with her. During the troublous times in Ireland a few years ago her house was raided three or four times, but she was not in the least frightened.