107 and still going to Mass

107 and still going to Mass

By Joanne Fleming

AT 107 years-old Elizabeth Heaney is now the oldest practising Catholic in Northern Ireland.

Reaching her latest milestone birthday on Christmas Eve, Mrs. Heaney was welcomed at Mass in St. Patrick's Church, in Ballynahinch, on Sunday, where she is a familiar figure among parishioners.

Up until the past a couple of years the Ballynahinch woman attended Mass every day and still attends as often as her health allows.

St. Patrick's is a place she began attending as a child, and where she later married her husband James. Even when living in Dunmore for a time during her married life, Mrs. Heaney always attended church within the Ballynahinch Parish. Now living on the Belfast Road in the town with family, Mrs. Heaney lives as independent a life as possible.

Daughter Mary O'Hare said her mother's faith was always very important to her. "She was always very prayerful," said Mary. "She went to Mass every day of her life, really until she broke her hip last October. She does not get every week now but she still goes at Christmas and birthdays etc.

"She was actually driving up to Mass until she was two months short of her 100th birthday and we decided she really shouldn't be driving any more."

A mother of six girls and one boy, and currently the second oldest person in Ireland, Mrs. Heaney has been a widow since 1977. A well-known face around the parish, Mary said said her mother was characterised by her smart dress and sociable personality.

"She always dresses very well," said Mary. "She has been a long time on her own and keeps saying how her generation are all gone. She was always a very sociable person, though. She is always interested in what's going on and always likes to see people visiting her."