| Christine Ireland | |
 Christine Ireland at the age of 111 | |
| Birth: | 19 January 1908 Cumberland, North Carolina, USA |
| Death: | 18 August 2021 Burlington, North Carolina, USA |
| Age: | 113 years, 211 days |
| Country: |  USA
|
| Validated | |
Christine Ireland (née Adams; 19 January 1908 – 18 August 2021) was an American supercentenarian whose age is validated by the Gerontology Research Group.
Biography[]
The oldest of eight children, Christine Ireland was born in Cumberland County, North Carolina, USA, on 19 January 1908 to Simeon and Hettie (Williams) Adams. Her parents raised her and her siblings on a farm in Cumberland County, where they worked apple and peach orchards and raised hogs and chickens.
Her son, Harold, recalled a story from his grandmother, that his grandfather listed his race as white on land documents in order to protect his assets, because for a black man to own so much land during the 1860s was unheard of. Ireland attended high school at a Immanu Lutheran High School in Greensboro, and became a teacher in 1931. She married William Ireland in 1932 and they settled in Greensboro where they raised three boys and three girls. Her husband provided for the family through his job on the railroad and Ireland took the lead in running the household and educating her children. Two of her daughters, Yvonne and Marcela, went on to attend Bennett College and also became teachers. Her husband died in 1983.
Ireland learned how to cook when she was seven years old, and would stand on a wooden box in front of the stove to help prepare dinner. “She made sure all her children could read and write before we went to school”, said Harold. “She has always been a strong woman. She had rules and regulations and you were expected to follow them”.
Ireland celebrated her 111th birthday on 19 January 2019. On her anniversary, she received a State issued birthday commemoration, delivered by N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper, as well as a City of Greensboro resolution signed by Mayor Nancy Vaughan and District 1 Council member Sharon Hightower, acknowledging Ireland’s birthday.
As of January 2019, she had a younger sister who was 95 years old at time and resided in Fayetteville.
Christine Ireland died in Burlington, North Carolina, USA on 18 August 2021 at the age of 113 years, 211 days. She was believed to be one of the 10 oldest living Americans at the time of her death. She resided at Alamance House, a nursing facility in Burlington.
Gallery[]
References[]
- Gerontology Research Group
- North Carolina woman celebrates 111th birthday The Carolina Peacemaker, 30 January 2019
- Christine A. Ireland The Courier-Tribune, 19 January 2020
- Obituary For Christine Ireland Perry J. Brown Funeral Home, 18 August 2021