Old Countess of Desmond

Katherine FitzGerald, the Countess of Desmond was a 17th-century noblewoman who was rumored to have lived up to the age of 140. She is said to have died of a fall when climbing a tree to gather nuts - not due to old age. She was so very well known that she was mentioned by Francis Bacon and Sir Walter Raleigh who nicknamed her “the old Countess of Desmond.” She reportedly walked every week to her local market town, a distance of 4–5 miles. She was also said to have grown teeth twice or thrice in her lifetime; casting her old teeth, and others coming in their place.

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