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At 108 years old, McEvilly is the oldest man in Ireland.
Born in Rosscahill, a village of about 300 people in the west of the country, he has outlived all 10 of his older siblings, many of whom lived into their 90s, GalwayBeo reported.
This suggests that they may share longevity-boosting genes. But lifestyle choices can also play a part in how long a person lives, and McEvilly's lifestyle likely helped him stay active and healthy past 100. Although he now has carers, he was fit enough to use an exercise bike until around three years ago.
With the number of centenarians in the US projected by the Pew Research Center to quadruple over the next 30 years, there's a growing interest in staying healthy for as long as possible — with some turning to centenarians like McEvilly for tips.
Here are the lifestyle factors McEvilly shared with GalwayBeo that may have helped him reach triple figures.
McEvilly's mantra for longevity is "everything in moderation."
He never eats after 7p.m., and restricts his drinking to three glasses of Guinness, a hugely popular Irish stout, on Sunday nights.
Moderation is a common theme among centenarians worldwide. BI previously reported that Kane Taneka, a Japanese woman who lived to 119 and was the second oldest person in recorded history, made never drank to excess, just like people in Sardinia, one of the world's Blue Zones where people disproportionately live past 100.
In his 108 years, McEvilly has never owned a car, instead opting to cycle everywhere. Even once he stopped using cycling as transport at age 99, he continued to use an exercise bike until he was 105.
McEvilly also had a very active upbringing, doing chores on his family farm such as cutting up and bringing in turf for fuel, trimming ferns, collecting water, and gathering moss to use for animal bedding.
Building activity into daily life is linked to longevity, with one 2022 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine finding that a combination of strength training and cardio exercise appeared to reduce participants' risk of dying of any cause by over 40%.
"His faith was massively important to him. I don't think in his entire life he ever missed an evening where he didn't say the rosary," McEvilly's son, Pat, told GalwayBeo.
Having a strong sense of faith is also associated with longevity, with many centenarians attributing their long lives to God, such as the oldest person in the US, Elizabeth Francis.
One 2018 study by researchers at Ohio State University using a sample of obituaries from Des Moines, IA, found people who had religion mentioned lived almost 10 years longer than those who did not.
The study's authors suggested that wasn't because of the religion itself, but because of the social contact and opportunities to help others that religion provides.
