of their business with a 52% shareholding, also taking the roles of managing director and chairperson of the board. Mary Guiney remained MD until 1977, while Denis Guiney's nephew, Arthur Walls, took over the day-today running of the stores. Later life Guiney nearly died in May 1974, when Guineys on Talbot Street was caught in Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Over time, Guiney gave relatives positions within the business, some senior, but continued to retain a controlling stake and resisted suggestions to sell the company or major assets. Among the sales she refused was a takeover bid from Dublin serial entrepreneur John Teeling in 1987, and a failed buyout bid in 1999 by Clerys' general manager, Tom Rea. She commented on the Teeling bid: "Why would I want to sell the best business and building in Ireland?" Until the age of 99, Guiney visited the shop and attended board meetings. She signed the company's annual accounts until 2004, when she was 103, making her potentially the oldest active company director in Ireland or the United Kingdom. According to some, Guiney was seen as not making the most of the opportunities which arose during the Irish boom economic years in the late 1990s. In later years, Guiney continued to resist changes in the business, which some think damaged the store and hindered its ability to garner new or younger customers. In 1999 she sold her house, the Victorian-era "Auburn" on the Howth Road in Clontarf, for £4 million; the house was demolished and the site intensively developed. Guiney moved to The Meadows in Raheny. Death Guiney died in Beaumont Hospital on 23 August 2004. Following a funeral mass in St Anthony's Church, Clontarf, Guiney was buried alongside her husband, and his first wife, Nora Gilmore, in Glasnevin Cemetery. Following her death, her shares were left to a family trust, and later distributed to several members of the extended Guiney family. The Guineys had no children but there were legacies beyond the shares for three nieces, while Guiney's house and a substantial legacy were left to her friend and housekeeper, and over 25,000 euro each for the parish priest of St Anthony's, Clontarf, and for the saying of masses in six churches. References 1901 births Irish women in business Irish centenarians Women centenarians 2004 deaths