IRISH EYES KEEP SMILING ON

AT 105, Doris Gilmer says the secret to a long life is equal parts work and play.

The mentally sharp and physically capable great grandmother said she lived an “ordinary” life, entering the workforce at 14 and kicking up her heels up on the dancefloor whenever she had the chance.

“I am just an ordinary person who went to dances and just enjoyed myself. I had my ups and downs,” Ms Gilmer said.

“I started to work at a big firm in Belfast as a machinist making children’s clothes and at the time of the war I made khaki uniforms. I later left that and went to a shirt factory. I had my children in between and returned to catering, making sandwiches ... I was always busy.”

Her 105th birthday, celebrated this week, was only her third since moving into Bupa Barrabool in Belmont.

Still largely independent, she continues to enjoy Irish music, shopping and dining out — recently also claiming victory in the aged-care facility’s footy tipping competition.

“I am feeling good, I have all my senses about me and I can look after myself,” she said.

Ms Gilmer, who has outlived her four younger siblings, moved to Australia from Ireland with her husband in 1985 to be closer to her children who had relocated Down Under years earlier.

“We didn’t want to come. We were older, in our 70s, but (the children) wouldn’t hear a tale of it,” she said.

Three years later, the couple went back to Belfast to sell their last parcel of farmland when tragedy struck.

“We went back to get things all fixed up and my husband had a heart attack and died when we were over there,” Ms Gilmer said.

“It was terrible when my husband went, but I am lucky to have a good family around me and good friends from church and senior citizens who visit often.”