• At 108, Martin McEvilly is Ireland’s oldest man.
• At 105, he was still riding an exercise bike and has since outlived his 10 brothers and sisters.
• These are his secrets to his long life, including God, Guinness and collecting moss.

At 108, McEvilly is Ireland’s oldest man.

Born in Rosscahill, a village of about 300 inhabitants in the west of the country, He has outlived all 10 of his older siblings, many of whom are in their 90s, GalwayBeo reported.

This suggests they share genes that extend lifespan. But lifestyle choices can also play a role in how long a person lives, and McEvilly’s lifestyle has likely helped him stay active and healthy past the age of 100. Although he now has carers, he was fit enough to use an exercise bike until about three years ago.

According to the Pew Research Center, the number of centenarians in the U.S. will quadruple in the next 30 years. As a result, there is growing interest in staying healthy as long as possible. Some are asking centenarians, like McEvilly, for tips.

These are the lifestyle factors McEvilly shared with GalwayBeo that may have helped him reach a triple-figure income.

Don’t do anything excessive

McEvilly’s mantra for long life is ‘everything in moderation’.

He never eats after 7pm and limits his alcohol consumption 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 be 119 and became the second oldest person in history, never drank to excess, nor did people in Sardinia, one of the world’s Blue Zones where people disproportionately live to be 100.

Stay active

In his 108 years, McEvilly has never owned a car, choosing instead to bike everywhere. Even after he stopped using a bike as a means of transportation at age 99, he continued to use a stationary bike until he was 105.

McEvilly also had an active childhood, doing odd jobs on his family’s farm, including cutting and hauling peat for fuel, pruning ferns, fetching water, and collecting moss for the animals’ bedding.

There is a link between incorporating activity into daily life and living longer. A 2022 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that a combination of resistance training and cardio reduced participants’ risk of dying from any cause by more than 40%.

To have a strong faith

“His faith was hugely important to him. I don’t think he ever missed a night in his life where he didn’t say the rosary,” McEvilly’s son, Pat, told GalwayBeo.

Strong faith is also associated with longevity. Many centenarians attribute their longevity to God. One example is Elizabeth Francis, the oldest person in the US.

A 2018 study by researchers at Ohio State University, using a sample of death notices from Des Moines, Iowa, found that people who mentioned religion lived nearly a decade longer than those who did not.

The study authors suggested that this was not due to the religion itself, but rather to the social connections and opportunities to help others that religion provides.