The former Queenstown hotelier, who now lives in Dunedin, on Monday cast a special vote in today's general election, leaving her free to spend her birthday catching up with about 100 family and friends.
It may not be partying completely without politics.
As one of her daughters, Maria Noonan, said, in such a large family, in which diverse views were held dearly, it might be difficult to steer all conversations away from election results.
Mrs O'Connell has five children still living, 27 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren and five great- great-grandchildren.
The family has discovered that Mrs O'Connell (nee Marshall), whose early life was on an Otautau farm, was born about a week before the 1908 general election.
Mrs O'Connell, who lives at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Brockville, said yesterday she could not recall how many times she had voted, but said she always had exercised the right from the age of 21 (the then age of eligibility).
On the day of her birth, newspapers reported demonstrations by suffragettes in London.
Universal suffrage was not achieved in Britain until 20 years later. New Zealand had universal suffrage from 1893.
Mrs O'Connell still likes to read the newspaper and to keep up with world events.
This week she was "pleasantly surprised" to see a change in the presidency of the United States, with the election of Barack Obama.
Mrs O'Connell was the eldest in a family of five. Her mother, Flora (nee Salton), died from flu in 1918, days after giving birth to youngest daughter Flora.
Young Iris, only 10 at the time, took over running of the household, including the family finances.
Mrs O'Connell attended Orawia School, travelling by horseback, until she was about 13 and then stayed at home to help raise the family.
She later moved to Invercargill where she took on a job washing dishes at the Grand Hotel. While there, she was spotted by a young Jim O'Connell, who was working at the hotel as a painter.
Mrs Noonan said his recollection of "really fancying" Mrs O'Connell from that first sighting was something he still referred to in later years (he died in 1995), much to her mother's embarrassment.
The couple married in 1928, initially living in Invercargill where Jim continued to work as a painter, before moving to Queenstown in 1937 to run the Beach House guesthouse, with his sister Mary.
They bought it for about 100. Over time, the house was later developed into O'Connells Hotel and when fully developed by the 1970s had about 120 beds.
Mrs O'Connell, as well as raising seven children, was responsible for managing the hotel.
She was known for her quality control and her insistence that the hotel motto "You're always welcome at O'Connells" was adhered to.
In the early days, the family leased land to grow vegetables and run milking cows and was proud of its reputation for providing a variety of fresh vegetables for guests.
In the 1960s, Mrs O'Connell also served on the Queenstown Borough Council.
Mr and Mrs O'Connell retired in the 1970s and the hotel was later sold and demolished in 1986 to make way for O'Connells Pavilion.
Mrs O'Connell was a keen gardener, something she missed now she was confined to a wheelchair after a stroke on her birthday last year and a later suspected heart attack.
She also missed Queenstown, but had to leave because no long-stay hospital beds were available there. Mrs O'Connell said she did not have any secrets to share about longevity.
She had never smoked, but still enjoyed a gin and tonic, had been a hard worker and always relished eating a variety of vegetables.
She would have liked to have had a better education and emphasised the importance of education to her children, five of whom completed tertiary studies.
Son-in-law Mike Noonan suggested she might have to act her age when she turned 100, to which she replied "I'll have to have a bit of practice".
