Katherine Plunket


Katherine Plunket was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat from Ballymascanlan, County Louth, a prolific botanical illustrator and the oldest person ever to die in Ireland, at 111 years and 327 days.

Family

Plunket was born at Kilsaran, near Castlebellingham in County Louth, Ireland The eldest of six children, one of whom died in infancy, she was a granddaughter of William Plunket, 1st Baron Plunket, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Her father Thomas Plunket, 2nd Baron Plunket, was a junior Church of Ireland clergyman when she was born and later became the Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, she was featured in numerous peerage books of the period including Whittakers.
Her mother Louisa Jane Foster was the second daughter of Rebecca M'Clure and John William Foster of Fanevalley, County Louth, Member of Parliament for Dunleer, and was related to the Earl of Clermont. Her first and second cousins included three titled members of the Irish aristocracy. She was baptised Anglican in Kilsaran Church on 13 December 1820 as Catherine Plunket, though she spelled her name with a "K" for her entire life.
She inherited from her mother one of the family's ancestral homes, Ballymascanlon House near Dundalk, and oversaw the upkeep of the home and gardens until she contracted bronchitis at the age of 102. The house is now a hotel.

Botanical illustration

With her younger sister Gertrude, Plunket traveled widely and visited almost every capital in Europe. With her sister, Frederica, she made many sketches of flowers in France, Italy, Spain and Germany, and Ireland.
These were bound in a volume which was presented in 1903 to the Royal College of Science, and was later transferred to the Museum of Science and Art in the National Museum of Ireland. In 1970 it was part of the collections which were transferred to the Irish National Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin.

Longevity record

Although it was not known at the time, Plunket became the oldest recognised person in the world at 8:00 a.m. on 4 December 1928, after the death of Delina Filkins, at the age of 108 years and 12 days, spanning a little over three years. At the time of Plunket's death, she was credited with being the longest-lived Irish person in history, and not only lived longer than anyone who died in Ireland, but also the United Kingdom and at the age 109 received a telegram from King George V, she held this longevity record title for 38 years, until 1970, when Ada Giddings Roe lived to be 12 days older. She was the last living person who had met the author Sir Walter Scott, when he stayed at her grandfather's house in Bray while she was visiting.
She was included in the first ever Guinness World Records, and is the only supercentenarian listed then to stand the burden of scrutiny in the years since.
She attributed her longevity to the unrustled carefree aspect of her life. She died on 14 October 1932, a month shy of her 112th birthday, her death was recorded three days later in Ravensdale, County Louth and attributed to syncope, her obituary was published in numerous Irish media publications, and in England in The Times. A telegram of condolence was sent to her relatives by King George V.