I came across a newspaper article in the Connaught Telegraph dated, 16th August 1947 in which it reported that an old resident of the town had passed away. The lady in question was a Mrs. Catherine Sweeney, who died in her daughter’s residence in McHale Road. What made the article stand out was that when she died, she broke a link of five living generations. She was the mother of eight and had 19 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great grandchildren. This was described as a rare and unusual distinction and the lady herself was a native Irish speaker and a cousin of the then late Archdeacon Fallon, PP, Castlebar who also lived to be a grand old age.