From Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, 12 February 1753, this account of an extremely long-lived resident of Dublin 7:
“IRELAND
DUBLIN, Jan 30. On Sunday fe’nnight died at the Widow’s House of St. Michan’s Parish, Mrs Devoureux, aged 119; she was born in Scotland, and remembered perfectly the Martyrdom of King Charles the First, but was a little defective in her Hearing.”
The former Widows’ House of St Michan’s Parish (image above) is still standing within the St Michan’s Church grounds, visible side-on from Church Street.
The 119 year old Mrs Devoureux appears to have outlived Katherine Plunket, one of the many grandchildren of Lord Chancellor of Ireland William Plunket, and previously regarded as the oldest person ever to have died in Ireland, who died in 1932 at the age of nearly 112.
Could the fact that the Widow’s House is located on the site of former Oxmantown Wood, the remains of which still survived in her lifetime, have anything to do with Mrs Devoureux’s longevity?
Interesting fact: the Devoureux (or Devereux) surname survives in Church Street to this day!
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