The Sunday World recently published an article that shared a story about an anonymous researcher who uncovered the truth behind the claim of ‘Ireland’s Oldest Man Ever.’ It turned out to be a case of pension fraud.
For several years, the longevity community had been aware of an anonymous man, supposedly born on July 2, 1911, who was believed to have become the first Irish male supercentenarian in 2021. Based on online information, the Office of the President sent him a commemorative medal just days before his 110th birthday to celebrate the occasion. The longevity community believed that he became the first supercentenarian in Ireland in over a decade, as the most recent one was Margaret Dolan in 2003, and that he held the title of the country’s oldest living resident. That is also what the anonymous researcher believed when they reached out to Áras an Uachtaráin to inquire about records and information regarding this man.
However, what was discovered is that an elderly woman had been claiming the payments on behalf of the deceased man from 1993 to 2022, totaling the full amount of €271,046.
With the debunking of the claim, it is now believed that the oldest man to have ever passed away in Ireland was Michael O’Connor (13 October 1913 – 21 August 2022), who lived in Kerry and reached the age of 108 years and 312 days.
