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09 Mar 2026

'A mighty man' - Grandson shares life of Offaly and Ireland's oldest man on TikTok

From riding a quad bike to sharing medals from Michael D Higgins, Paddy from Clara in Offaly is nothing short of an incredible man breaking the boundaries of old age

'A mighty man' - Grandson shares life of Offaly and Ireland's oldest man on TikTok

Ireland's oldest man Paddy Claffey

Ireland’s oldest man, Paddy Claffey, from Clara, Offaly, is 104-years-old and his grandson has been sharing hilarious and charming videos of him on TikTok.

From riding a quid bike at 101-years-old to his secret to giving up smoking, Paddy's stories are most fascinating.

Paddy's grandson Shane said on TikTok that although he is now in Australia, a huge distance away from his grandad in Offaly, Ireland, the pair still FaceTime every night.

Recently, Paddy was featured in The Irish Times for being Ireland's oldest man, to which his grandson said: "very proud of this legend making the Irish times. Even with me in Australia, I’m on FaceTime with him every night not a bother. Longing for the day I get home. Until then though, this has made me immensely proud of this man!".

Shane's TikTok shares snippets of him and the account has gained a lot of attention from people who are in awe of his grandad's life.

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In one video on Shane's TikTok, Paddy recites a prayer which he has said every night for over 95 years!

In another video, Paddy is flying around on a quad bike back in 2022 when he was 101-years-old!

In another video with over 30,000 views, Paddy shares his secret to giving up smoking at 45 years old.

In the video, Paddy said that he used to smoke ten cigarettes a day and 20 on a Sunday for about 50 years.

The day Paddy gave them up he said was the best day of his life and he never looked back. He was down in Wexford with his brother in law about to light up a cigarette and he said "I just couldn't bare looking at a cigarette and it was the best thing that ever happened."

Paddy also showed off his four medals which he received from former President of Ireland Michael D Higgins.

In the video he said, "I was born on the 17th of April 1921 and I am now 104 in good health thanks be to God".

Many people across the country have commented on the videos all in awe of Paddy's stories and his close relationship with his grandson.

One person commented, "He looks fantastic, I love listening to him. Mighty man", and another person said: "Love listening to these kind of stories, wish I had asked my parents more things when they were alive. It's only when the older generations pass we realise we didn't ask enough about their lives".

"What an amazing man," another person said.

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