106-year-old: Long walks key to long life

Mary Walsh emigrated from Ireland to Ponsonby with her family 100 years ago. Photo / Richard Robinson

Shandy and sponge cake were on the menu at a 106th birthday party yesterday.

Mary Walsh celebrated her special day with a family afternoon tea at Lansdowne Retirement Home in Howick, her home for the past six years.

She might not be able to hear or see too well, but Ms Walsh's sense of humour is still going strong.

Her nieces Anne-Marie Harvey and Margaret Norwood earned a quiet chuckle and cheeky grin as they joked with her.

"You're looking like a young chick today," said Mrs Norwood, admiring her aunt's magenta nail polish.

Ms Walsh has lived in Auckland for 100 years, since her family emigrated from Ireland in 1911.

She grew up in Ponsonby in the days of the old gas works, working as a tailoress for Hugh Wrights before retiring to care for her elderly parents.

Mrs Norwood described her aunt's sewing as "first class".

Her nieces remember tram rides with her to Farmers in town, visiting an Irishwoman to drink blackberry nip, and walking to mass at St Patrick's Cathedral.

Mrs Norwood thinks her aunt is still alive because of all her walking.

"She used to walk from Anglesea St in Ponsonby right over to Parnell, through where the Museum is," said Mrs Harvey.

Mrs Harvey also attributed her aunt's longevity to her love of family.

She never married, but her parents, siblings and their children were her family, said Mrs Norwood.

"She's just been Aunty Mary to everybody."

Miss Walsh has at least 60 nieces and nephews, spanning several generations.

Living through countless global milestones, Ms Walsh has seen a lot of change over the years.

"If you took her to Queen St now she'd say it wasn't Queen St," said Mrs Harvey.

Aside from "a bit of Pamol" for three bouts of pneumonia, Mrs Harvey said her aunt did not take any medication.

The oldest of six children, Ms Walsh has survived all of her siblings, including her twin brother, Martin.

"It'll be the end of an era when she passes on," said Mrs Harvey.

Ms Walsh was too tired after her big day to talk about her birthday, but a spokeswoman for Lansdowne Retirement Home said she had a "fantastic time".