Hard work and fresh air. That's the secret to long life, according to Nora Brennan. And she should know, for on Thursday last, the woman from Leitrim South, Chaffpool, just outside Tubbercurry, celebrated her 102nd birthday.

Two years ago, when she was 100, a neighbour, Pat Duffy, told her she "was good for another five years."

To which Nora then promptly replied: "Is that all you are going to give me?"

Now, two years later, she remains as bright and alert as many women half her age, a delightful glint in her eye as she continues to succeed in sidestepping the old Grim Reaper himself.

"I hope to have another year or two," she told The Sligo Champion on Thursday last.

As for what life feels like at 102, she simply replied: "I never know I am 102."

Arriving at her house in Chaffpool just after 10:30 on Thursday morning last, one of Nora's favourite songs, "Noirín Bán", poured forth full blast as her daughter, Mary McDermott, opened the door. Inside, Nora, prim, proper and all dressed up, was already waiting for a "Champion" reporter and photographer to call, a welcoming handshake at the ready.

Nearby were her medal from Uachtarán na hEireann and a letter from President McAleese to mark her 102nd birthday. Deserved presidential honours they are, of course, but one soon felt the real honour was for those who get to share, if only for a while, in the company of this elderly lady who, for more than a century, has witnessed and been through so much.

In August 1908, when Nora was born, the first Model T Ford was built. The previous May, the Wright brothers had patented their aircraft while the British House of Commons had voted in favour of the Irish Universities Bill setting up the National University of Ireland. In September of that year, a young Padraig Pearse opened Scoil Eanna in Dublin.

Nora Brennan (Brennan was also her maiden name) was born August 19th, 1908, in Leitrim South, Chaffpool, the daughter of Catherine and Bartholomew Brennan, hence the nickname the Bartley Brennans.

While attending Moylough School, she got a sore foot as a result of which she "was at home for about six months." In that time, the other pupils in Moylough had "moved on" so, on returning to school, Nora went to Tubbercurry instead.

But life at home and work on the farm intervened.

She was the second youngest of a family of 15. Most of her brothers and sisters had emigrated and her father had passed away, in 1928, when she was 20.

Nora had hoped to go to England to train as a nurse but that all changed when her younger brother, Matt, left for England (Halifax), resulting in Nora having to remain at home to look after her mother.

"I had to work on the farm. They were all gone to America and I had to mind my mother. I worked all my life on the farm. I did a man's work on the land," she said.

Ten of her siblings - five boys and five girls - immigrated to America. A brother, Michael, lived in Charlestown while Matt was in England. Two of her siblings died in infancy; one of her sisters she never saw.

Of her brothers who went to America, she remembers little. The were conscripted into the U.S. military and while on leave from Germany, some of them came to visit, the sight of them in their impressive uniforms having helped imprint the occasion on her mind.

But whatever about the novelty of such visits, life on the land was a constant. She milked cows, fed pigs, kept hens and turkeys, saved hay and cut turf.

"There is no work on the farm now like that time. Everything was with the spade then. The hardest work was cutting turf and spreading them. And digging potatoes. They were about the hardest things I did," she said.

She was also a dab hand with the hair trimmers, giving the men of the area the customary "short back and sides" of the time.

As a young girl, dancing was one of her joys, whether it was in country houses, the Palace Hall in Tubbercurry, McDermott's Hall in Bunninadden, or in Charlestown.

As to how one travelled to such venues, Nora replied: "On bicycles."

"And sometimes on the bar of a bicycle," she added with a mischievous smile.

It was at a dance in a local house that she met her husband, James Brennan, from Powelsboro. They were married in 1947, when Nora was about 40, with the couple settling in Nora's home place. They had two children, Mary, who lived in England and is now in Chaffpool, having looked after her mother, and John, who's in Manchester.

Nora's husband died in 1989, aged 73; she was 81.

But even as a wife and mother, Nora continued to work on the farm, keeping cattle on the land up until she was about 90 years old.

Now in her 103rd year, she can still recall events from as far back as the troubled beginnings of the Irish State. She was eight when the Easter Rising took place followed by the Civil War, the War of Independence, and the two World Wars.

She saw the Black and Tans, and says she heard the shots when DI Brady was killed at Chaffpool.

District Inspector James Joseph Brady, a former officer with the Irish Guards, was son of Louis Brady, the Dublin Harbour Master, and nephew of PJ Brady, MP for St Stephen's Green. He had joined the RIC in March 1920, aged 21, and was subsequently shot in an IRA ambush at Chaffpool.

However, Nora says this was a mistake, as it was intended to shoot a Captain Conway.

She added that although Brady was a Protestant, no Protestant minister was available as he laying dying. However, a Catholic priest attended him and he died a Catholic, according to Nora.

Reprisals for the shooting of Brady came that night, with the burning of creameries in Tubbercurry, Rathscanlon and Achonry.

She also has memories of Chaffpool Drama Group and of horse races at Turloughmore, held on land that was part of the Brennan family farm.

She was an accomplished camogie player in her day, having won county championship medals with Curry. She still likes to watch television coverage of the Sligo GAA senior team's games.

Today, she has six grandchildren: Lisa Brennan, Colin Brennan, Michael McDermott, Michelle McDermott, Mark McDermott, and Marie McDermott, all in Manchester; and two great-grandchildren, Lily McEleny, aged two years, and Conor James Patrick Brennan, aged four months months.

Overall, Nora has enjoyed general good health throughout her life, although she suffered a setback about seven years ago when she broke her hip, subsequently having a hip replacement.

She doesn't drink, although she might have a sip of wine at Christmas. She smoked until she was in her 40s when her children came along.

Now, looking back on her long life, she said: "We enjoyed ourselves. We made the most of it. I grew up with young people so I suppose they helped me stay young."

That at 102!

- HARRY KEANEY