How many of your grandparents are still alive?

ToddyDoody

Mine are all dead. One at age 55, another at 91, the third at 80 and the forth just beyond 80.

They were all martyrs for a good mass.

r93kaey5p2izun

None alive. I'm late 30s. My parents are in their mid 70s. One grandparent died before I was born, one died when I was 4, the others died more recently.

Scorpion Sting

All my grandparents were dead by the time I was 2. I’m 29. Marrying in your mid to late thirties has some consequences.

JupiterKid

Oh I forgot to add that my paternal great-grandmother, called “wee granny” by my late dad and my uncle, lived to the age of 95 and died in 1978 when I was not quite 3 years of age. Unfortunately I have no memory of her but my sisters recall her fondly.

Her maiden name was Annie Clarke and she was the mother of my paternal grandfather who himself lived to be 92, and was in rude health until his final year. Good genes on that side of the family!

My maternal grandparents were a good bit older than my paternal grandparents, as my late mum was the youngest of her siblings and my maternal grandmother - who died in 1985 aged 84 - was 42 when she was born. My maternal grandfather died of a heart attack aged 70 just a month after my parents were married in 1967, so my sisters and I never knew him. He was born in 1897, the 19th Century!

I still have a grand aunt alive - she is in the North (where my family come from) and is in her early 90s.

Pherekydes

Grandparents died aged 57, 59, 65 and 83.

Parents died aged 71 and 77.

I'm 59. :eek:

robman60

None. I'm 24.

I only met one (maternal grandfather) who died when I was 5.

My dad was almost 50 when he was born and the same with his father so he had died in 1973, but was already 77 by then. Grandmother on that side died at 75 and maternal grandmother died at 66, having always had a fair few health problems.

It's a pity I didn't get to meet more of them but I guess it's a reality when my parents were relatively old when I was born (well, my dad was).

Both my father's parents died when be was only young. My maternal grandfather died about 15 years ago. My maternal grandmother is still with us though. She turned 100 last March. She has Alzheimer's but is very healthy in body if not mind. Exceptionally healthy really. We've had doctor's redo blood tests assuming they've been sent the results of a much, much younger person! Don't know if that's a blessing or a curse really. The mind is gone, but the body won't give up.

I'm mid 30s.

Irish Guitarist

I'm 43. My last living grandparent was my grandmother on my mothers side. She died in her late 80s or early 90s when I was about 9. The rest of my grandparents died before I was born. My father barely even knew his mother because she died when he was a child.

I used to visit my granny in the nursing home every Sunday. One week, maybe a year or two before she died, I brought this pocket calculator with me. I did some multiplication sums on it and she was fascinated by it. This was in the mid 1980s when there was already far more advanced technology around but she had never seen any of it.

Raconteuse

Scorpion Sting wrote: »

All my grandparents were dead by the time I was 2. I’m 29. Marrying in your mid to late thirties has some consequences.

Yeah my uncle was aged 49 to 54 when his three children were born. It was a blessing that my gran, his mother, lived until nearly 98 so his kids had a grandparent they'd remember (when she died they were nearly 14, 12 and nine - same age as the oldest great grandchild).

Now if the question was how many of your grandparents are still around?....

My gran, as I said is 100 years old and has Alzheimer's. My grandfather died a decade and a half ago.

A few months back she had a very bad fall and banged her head and had to be hospitalised. She was in a bad way and we all thought she was going to die.

I was standing beside her bed with my cousin and she was staring into space and muttering total nonsense to herself, when she suddenly turned to me and asked "Is your name 'buile'?". Now she hasn't known or said my name in at least 6 years, so I got quite a surprise. "Yeah", I said, "I'm Buile." She nods and then looks at an empty spot beside her and then turns back to me and says "There's a man here asking for you". Jaysus, gave me the heebie-jeebies.

"Hello Grandad", says I.

hairyprincess

None. Only had paternal grandmother and she died when I was 6, she was early 60’s. A wonderful woman who had unbelievably tough life.

Others died long before I was born.

alroley

None. 3 had died by the time I was 11 and the 4th died when I was 18. Two were in their early 80s and the other two early 70s.

wakka12

Im nearly 24 and still have 3 which Id say is pretty lucky. Two grandads 84 and 80 and one grandmother is 76. All in pretty good health too, would be very surprised if any died in the next 5 years. Other granny died at 76 very suddenly after a cancer diagnosis, literally a couple of weeks in hospital and she was gone.Even stranger because the type of cancer she had has a near 100% survival rate. She was in good health up until then, so I guess you never know really, these things can be sudden. Usually the sudden deaths are heart related though

kildare lad

No all dead. On my mas side , my granda died in the 70s ,I never met him . My nanny died 3 years ago , she was 98 . She was 14 months away from being a 100 . She was real religious , never drank or smoke went to mass everyday . Never remarried after her husband died nearly 50 years earlier . I suppose it's strange to us being only with one person your whole life.
On my dad's side , his father died at 84 from something to do with smoking . He was born in 1910. I remember he didn't smoke in the house when we visited so I used to always follow him out to the shed to talk to him. I'd have loved if he lived a bit longer cos I'm really into Irish history and id have loads of questions now to ask him about what was like back then, during the war of Independence and the civil war etc. My nanny died at age 74 , she was 12 years younger than him when they married not a big deal back then. She got a stroke and died 2 years later. She was a lovely person .

JupiterKid

Would I be correct in presuming that those posters whose grandparents - particularly their parental grandparents - passed away before they were born or when they were very young because their fathers married and had a family late in life?

Would I also be correct to presume that many of these posters come from a rural background, more specifically a farming background, where it seems to me that men in farming in Ireland traditionally married in their 40s or 50s to a considerably younger wife? Why is that?

Another thing that seems to be quite common to posters on this thread is that we didn’t have rich grandparents with trust funds to pass on to their children or grandchildren. Most of our grandparents struggled and had a pretty hard life because they were relatively poor, because Ireland was poor and underdeveloped when they were young.

cj maxx

cjmc wrote: »

Only ever knew my maternal granny. She died when I was 17. Grand fathers and paternal grany died long before I was even conceived

I think that's why I got married when I did. Grand parents are great. They love the kids and the kids love them . A bit wiser than parents but not raising them so they see the kids as they are rather than who they want them to be. If that makes sense.
I always wanted my kids to know their grandparents as I didn't.

ballyargus

JupiterKid wrote: »

Would I be correct in presuming that those posters whose grandparents - particularly their parental grandparents - passed away before they were born or when they were very young because their fathers married and had a family late in life?

Would I also be correct to presume that most of these posters come from a rural background, more specifically a farming background, where it seems to me that men in farming in Ireland traditionally married in their 40s or 50s to a considerably younger wife?

Why is that?

The latter is nonsense. I'm from rural Ireland. Most couples married young - very young. The man would usually be older but even then not by very much - 5 or 6 years.

bnt

I never knew any of my grandparents - the last one died when I was about 3. We had one great-aunt, and I think I met her once at age 6 or so.

Whiplashy

None. Both granddads and one grandmother died before I was born. My granny died a few years back at 92.

ILoveYourVibes

None of mine sadly my mother's mother died when my mom was twelve. Her father died with i was three.

My father's father died only few months until i was born. He hung on just to see me and hold me. He cried when he held me.

My father's mother died when I was 20.

Reiketsu

All of mine are dead now, I'm 31.

Paternal grandmother died first when I was 14. She was 75.
Maternal grandmother next, I was 20 and she was 65.
Maternal grandfather when I was 29, he was 83.
Most recently and finally was my paternal grandfather, he died in May and was 87 years old (I was already 31 by then).

I feel lucky to have had any grandparents left when I reached my 30s.

freshpopcorn

I'm in my late twenties!
Grandfather died in 1963 was in his late fifties.(I think)
Grandmother died in 1979 was in her seventies,
Grandfather died in 1975 was in is sixties.
Grandmother died in 2009 was in her nineties.

So, I knew one of them.

ILoveYourVibes

I feel really sad that i never really had time with most of my grandparents ...i still feel a huge connection tho

sunbeam

JupiterKid wrote: »

Would I be correct in presuming that those posters whose grandparents - particularly their parental grandparents - passed away before they were born or when they were very young because their fathers married and had a family late in life?

Would I also be correct to presume that most of these posters come from a rural background, more specifically a farming background, where it seems to me that men in farming in Ireland traditionally married in their 40s or 50s to a considerably younger wife? Why is that?

Another thing that seems to be quite common to posters on this thread is that we didn’t have rich grandparents with trust funds to pass on to their children or grandchildren. Most of our grandparents struggled and had a pretty hard life because they were relatively poor, because Ireland was poor and underdeveloped when they were young.

It varied where I came from. Some couples married young but many were economic migrants, who might have spent many years travelling to and from the UK before either settling there or moving back here. Only two of my aunts/uncles married in their twenties. Everyone else was 35+ and my parents were 40+. My maternal grandad was 50 when his last child was born, as was my paternal grandmother when her youngest arrived.


All were brought up in a culture where the norm was either to migrate or emigrate to England when they reached 14 and send money home to help the family. No free secondary education and few other opportunities. Up to the late 70s my father and most of my friends' fathers worked in England for 9 or 10 months of the year leaving our mothers to care for the young, the old, the disabled and run their smallholdings. It was a tough life and one I'm grateful I don't have to live.

ILoveYourVibes

Would I be correct in presuming that those posters whose grandparents - particularly their parental grandparents - passed away before they were born or when they were very young because their fathers married and had a family late in life?

No ....my grandparents on both sides had children late in life. Not sure about my parents. My dad wasn't terribly young ..my mom was average for her time.

Also two died of lung cancer. All were smokers.

My granny had my mother in her forties. She was a very very heavy smoker.

Similarly on my dad's side his parents had children later ...and his father smoked a pipe (he died of lung cancer) and my nana smoked.

thesultan

I'm. 38. Not alive. One of either side went to the nineties.

Strumms

thesultan wrote: »

I'm. 38. Not alive.

Tales from the fuçking crypt so :eek:

TimeUp

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Now if the question was how many of your grandparents are still around?....

My gran, as I said is 100 years old and has Alzheimer's. My grandfather died a decade and a half ago.

A few months back she had a very bad fall and banged her head and had to be hospitalised. She was in a bad way and we all thought she was going to die.

I was standing beside her bed with my cousin and she was staring into space and muttering total nonsense to herself, when she suddenly turned to me and asked "Is your name 'buile'?". Now she hasn't known or said my name in at least 6 years, so I got quite a surprise. "Yeah", I said, "I'm Buile." She nods and then looks at an empty spot beside her and then turns back to me and says "There's a man here asking for you". Jaysus, gave me the heebie-jeebies.

"Hello Grandad", says I.

You just gave me the heebie-jeebies as well

Hannibal_Smith

All dead. The nicest one died first and the horrible trog died last. Very unlucky turn of events would have loved if I had the nicest one longer.

Aglomerado

JupiterKid wrote: »

Would I also be correct to presume that many of these posters come from a rural background, more specifically a farming background, where it seems to me that men in farming in Ireland traditionally married in their 40s or 50s to a considerably younger wife? Why is that?

.

Definitely in my case. My maternal grandfather (a farmer) was born in 1889 and didn't marry until he was about 45, to a woman 16 years younger. He died in 1970, 7 years before I was born. My granny died in 1989, 100 years almost to the day from her husband's birth!

Rubberlegs

My paternal grandad died in 1987 aged 90 and my granny in 1994 aged 87. My maternal grandad died in 1978 aged 72 and my nanny in 1996 aged 88. By the time I was 23, they were all gone. My eldest cousin on my mother's side is the same age as my mother as her eldest sister was 18 yrs older than her and pregnant at the same time as my nanny. He was 50 and his nanny was still alive.

Wanderer78

All gone unfortunately

Woden

I'm late 30s. Only my paternal grand mother is still alive. My paternal grand father passed away around 3 years ago and my maternal parents a few years each before that but all where around when we where growing up so I feel quite fortunate.

My paternal grand fathers death was unexpected he died about 4 months after my own son was born. My partner, who is clever though, had the foresight to get some pictures so there is a few nice pictures of 4 generations of us on that side of the family which is nice.

None. I don't know what age they were when they died, most were long gone before I was born. Two of them were born in the 1800s. One of them, my Grandad, would be 125 if he were alive today. And I'm 32.

As a kid I had a grandmother. I think the most interesting thing about her was that she grew up hearing about the famine from people who remembered it, just like people today remember the moon landing. She used to tell stories she was told as a kid about people arriving at the door begging for food, and their mouths and their hands were green from scavenging for wood-sorrel.

I think I've mentioned that before, but the reason I think it grabs me is the idea that I was told that by someone who heard it from a man who opened (or shut) his door to famine victims, in Ireland. One degree of separation is all it is.

It had a big impact on her having grown up with those stories. Needless to say you didn't dare play with your food at her dinner table.

Mad_maxx

None

Most recent died in 2000

Before that

1986
1983
1963

Mad_maxx

Only ever knew two of them

Alf Veedersane

3 of the 4 were dead before I was born. The only grandparent I 'knew' died when I was 4.

Gwynplaine

All long gone. Both grandfathers died long before I was born. Grandmothers died when I was 10 and 14.
Now I'm 38, my mother died in 2009, and father in 2013. Have a 6 week old son now. I'll have to tell him about them when he's older. It's quite sad really. And I get a certain jealousy when I see people who are older than I am, who still have both of their parents.

Squall Leonhart

Gwynplaine wrote: »

All long gone. Both grandfathers died long before I was born. Grandmothers died when I was 10 and 14.
Now I'm 38, my mother died in 2009, and father in 2013. Have a 6 week old son now. I'll have to tell him about them when he's older. It's quite sad really. And I get a certain jealousy when I see people who are older than I am, who still have both of their parents.

Sorry to hear that Gwyn. I really am. I am 33 with both parents and 3 grandparents and I need to remind myself more often how lucky I am. My mother had a serious stroke a few years back and I thought she was gone, but thankfully about 50% of her former self is still here. Something died though. I can't imagine not having her at all.

All the best with your son, may he bring you a lifetime of joy. My wife has a 20wk scan tomorrow on our first. Son.. Or daughter... The big reveal.

Alf Veedersane

Gwynplaine wrote: »

All long gone. Both grandfathers died long before I was born. Grandmothers died when I was 10 and 14.
Now I'm 38, my mother died in 2009, and father in 2013. Have a 6 week old son now. I'll have to tell him about them when he's older. It's quite sad really. And I get a certain jealousy when I see people who are older than I am, who still have both of their parents.

My mother died in 08. My little one is 5 and adores her 'Nana' and I do feel that pang that she never knew my Mam as well.

Fiftyfilthy

My granny is still alive at 84 and her girlfriend who is 53

They have been dating the last 40 years , so I consider her as my other granny

JupiterKid

There seem to be quite a few posters here who never knew most or all of their grandparents because they died before they were born or when they were infants. I think that is rather sad.

There is a lot to be said for marrying and having children in your 20s or early 30s in terms of having grandparents for children to grow up with.

My sister was always a bit sad that her children, my nephew and niece who are 18 and 15 now, never knew their maternal grandmother as she died at a very young age and 11 years before my nephew was born. But she has made sure to have told them about our mum. As she was a great mother I am sure she would also have been a wonderful grandmother.

Pinch Flat

My grandad died in 1983 (I was 12) and my grand mother on the other side died in 1993 (I was 22 then). Miss them both and have fond memories of them.

I’ve a very vague memory of my other grandad - I was about 4 when he died. My other grandmother died before I was born.

I have a 13 year old son now and it’s great to see the grand parents dote on him - they’re all alive.

Highroad12

I'm in my mid 30's.

Maternal grandparents both still alive. My nanny is 89 and granda is 91 soon. All his family lived (some still alive) well into their 90's.

Paternal grandparents are dead. Granda died when he was in his 80's when I was around 13. Nanny died when I was 18. She was early 80's at that stage I think.

Squall Leonhart

Fiftyfilthy wrote: »

My granny is still alive at 84 and her girlfriend who is 53

They have been dating the last 40 years , so I consider her as my other granny

Typo? A woman in her mid 40s dating a 13 year old girl?

ceadaoin.

Fiftyfilthy wrote: »

My granny is still alive at 84 and her girlfriend who is 53

They have been dating the last 40 years , so I consider her as my other granny

:eek: or typo?!

Haha, I see the previous poster beat me to it

Fiftyfilthy

Afraid not , caused quite a scandal back in the day

Squall Leonhart

Squall Leonhart wrote: »

Typo? A woman in her mid 40s dating a 13 year old girl?

Maybe the auld one was a (pulls in microphone) Beavers instructor.

That's actually disgusting. I'll show myself put the door, goodnight.

Lesalare

I never knew my grandfathers. They died before I was born. I remember both my grannies, who both lived until I was about 5. My Dad died when I was 13 and my Mum 16 years ago but she was a vegetable from Alzheimers for 10 years previous, so I have pretty much grown up with no folks or grandparents. I am crazy envious of people who can still go and have family Sunday dinners etc...

Squall Leonhart

Fiftyfilthy wrote: »

Afraid not , caused quite a scandal back in the day

I'd say so....! :eek