Clare links for one of Ireland’s oldest citizens

THE son of a former Loop Head Lighthouse keeper continues to break records for longevity, recently celebrating his 108th birthday. 

One of Ireland’s oldest citizens, Mathew Crowley was born In Askeaton, County Limerick in 1914. The son of James Crowley, Principal Lighthouse Keeper at Loop Head, Matthew’s mother was Amelia ‘Millie’ Crowley (née Colfer) from Fethard-on-Sea in Wexford. 

Plenty of hard work and lots of excitement may be the secret to a long and happy life, as Matthew played in a central role in Britain’s war effort from 1939 to 1945, before later working for Irish Lights.

Matthew was recruited from Ford Motor Company, Cork City, Ireland, to Ford Motor Company, Dagenham in Essex. With the advent of World War II, aircraft engine production superseded automobile engines, and Matthew’s subsequent designation was as an ‘essential worker’ for the British war effort. With the advent of the Hawker Hurricane fighter airplane, he was initially recruited to the assembly team of Hawker-Sidley at Colindale, London, to produce the initial version of the Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft. 

Young Matthew was subsequently promoted to the Gloster (now Gloucester) Aircraft Company assembly team for the introduction of the newer Hurricane Mk IIA Series 2 which was equipped with a new and slightly longer propeller spinner, and four additional, wing-mounted Browning machine guns. 

Arriving at work on one occasion, Matthew was just starting his shift when a Messerschmitt-109 aircraft bombed the car park causing a large loss of life of the female workforce who had emerged from their previous work shift. Matthew also related his own lucky escape on another occasion when a Messerschmitt-109 dropped another bomb which passed over the assembly hanger, where he was working, and landed on the far side of the hanger, decimating the connecting engine-fitting area.

As a World War II Gloucester National Home Guard, adjunct to the 5th Gloucestershire Regiment, Matthew was also assigned by the Gloucester City Council ARP to Gloucester Cathedral, for the duration of the German bombing campaign in England. He was later promoted to aircraft inspector at Sir George Dowty’s, Staverton, Gloucestershire, but with the introduction of the RAF’s first jet-powered fighter, he retired as Lighthouse Keeper Attendant with the Irish Lights to Minehead Lighthouse in Waterford. He lived there with his wife of 62 years, Matilda Crowley, a native of Ballyvaughan. Her professional career began at St George’s Hospital, London. She was later a State Registered Nurse (SRN) at the Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary. 

With the automation of Irish lighthouses, the couple retired together to Youghal in County Cork in 1986.