‘I had a cough, that is all’ — Josie (103) ready to celebrate
Josie Silo is now looking forward to another stylish party after seeing off coronavirus, writes
JOSIE Silo, the 103-yearold Dublin woman who last week was given the all-clear after testing positive for Covid-19, is already looking forward to her 104th birthday.
She has been an inspiration to many people. “It wasn’t too bad. I had a cough, that is all,” she said.
That’s the Josie I know. I remember a couple of days after she celebrated her 100th birthday calling up to see her at home in Dublin’s East Wall. A radio obsessive, it came as no surprise to find her listening to Joe Duffy’s Liveline, and with plenty to say about the topic under discussion.
A diminutive figure, she sat in her armchair as we counted her birthday cards (81!) and then she regaled me with stories from her recent parties. Yes, ‘parties’. Plural.
So her centenary was marked with a party, complete with horse-drawn carriage, and then it was off to Clontarf Castle for another celebration. I hadn’t been able to get to the castle so Josie filled me in. The music, the food, the speeches and, of course, “the style”. Her own included. She was resplendent in red, with matching handbag and, of course, her signature lipstick.
I have known Josie Silo all my life. My Auntie Kathleen (married to my father’s brother, Harry) was Josie’s sister. From a Dublin family of six sisters, Josie and Kathleen were the two youngest, and thick as thieves.
At every family gathering down the decades, be it in Dublin or in my home territory of Co Derry, Josie, who never married, was always included.
When Kathleen died in 2011, followed just four months later by Harry, Josie was heartbroken. But with her strong faith, her can-do attitude, and the daily support from Harry and Kathleen’s two daughters, she picked herself up and carried on. And now, having hit the headlines as a 103-year-old survivor of coronavirus, this July — “God willing”, as she would say — she will turn 104.
When I was a child, Josie’s exotic surname fascinated me. Silo? Where on earth did that come from?
From Josie’s Italian father, Andrea. Josie’s mother was Anna McKeown, from Belfast, but it was in Dublin that they settled to raise their daughters. And if ever there was a prouder Dub than Josie Silo, after 40 years in this fair city, I’ve never met one.
How do you get to be almost 104, in good health, and still engaged with the world? Well, she’s never been a smoker or drinker. Primarily, Josie puts her longevity down to being fit because she waitressed all her working life.
And now this extraordinary woman has seen off Covid-19 and is heading for birthday number 104.
I can’t wait to see her outfit on the day.