‘Don’t drink, don’t smoke and never marry’

A BALLYGAWLEY woman has revealed her secret to a long life after recently celebrating her 102nd birthday.

Kathleen McConville marked the occasion with a small gathering at her home.

Her nephew, Joe Gavin, told the Tyrone Herald, “She’s happy to keep going. We keep teasing her that we won’t be taking down the 102 balloons until we’re ready to put up the 103rd birthday balloons.”

The pandemic has forced the sprightly centenarian to stay at home more than she would have before.

“When she turned 100 we had a big celebration with about 150 people but you can’t be doing that now as people don’t want to come out and we can’t put people in danger.

“We just had eight close relatives around to her house to celebrate,” Joe explained.

Asked what Kathleen puts her longevity down to, Joe said, “She doesn’t smoke, she doesn’t drink and she never married.”