Real-life 'The Notebook' couple die side-by-side after 80 years of romance

One of the most fundamental rules of the girl code is to have seen The Notebook at some point in your life. The 2004 flick starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling is the ultimate romance story, and definitely one of the greatest chick flicks of all time. The story follows labourer Noah and rich girl Allie, who fall in love in 1940s South Carolina.

But while the film is based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, it turns out that Noah and Allie actually did have real-life counterparts. They come in the form of an Irish pair who also met when they were quite young, and fell head over heels for each other during the 40's. Their story has been shared following the news of their passing on Monday this week. The couple reportedly died within hours of each other, both aged 93, after spending 80 good years together.

Credit: New Line Cinema

According to RSVP Live, Maire and Gerry Ryan were born only a day apart in the Irish region of Tipperary. They met when they were 17 and went on to spend the next eight decades together. Before they died, they asked to have their beds wheeled to each other at the Curragh Lawn Nursing Home in Co Kildare so that they could hold hands one last time.

The Notebook, of course, sees Noah and Allie fall in love at a young age too, and despite their tumultuous love story, they end up growing old together and living at a care home after Allie develops dementia. Maire similarly suffered from memory loss due to Alzheimer's.

Credit: Curragh Lawn Nursing Home

Sarrita, a staff worker at the facility, described how the couple were devoted to one another right until the end. "Gerry used to hold her hand all the time and remind her about the olden times and their life," she observed. "He used to orientate her to the present every single day."

"He would sit and tell her poems, he loved Irish poetry and he used to sing to her at night. I have never seen anything like that.

I’ve been in the nursing home 13 years and we never saw anything like them. He was so dedicated to her."

The pair were married nine years after meeting, and lived a happy life together – Maire became a popular secondary school teacher, and Gerry served in the military (just like Noah) before getting his PhD with his wife's help. After Maire got Alzheimer's disease in her old age, Gerry spent his days caring for her, before falling severely ill himself with arthritis.

Credit: New Line Cinema

They both went to Currage Lawn Nursing Home to make things easier. Two weeks ago, Gerry suffered a major health scare, and he was transferred to hospital. Eventually, he was sent back to the care home, where he returned to Maire who had reportedly been struggling without him.

They spent their last days together, with Gerry asking a day before he died if his bed could be moved next to Maire's so that they could hold hands. Somehow, they both knew this would be the end. Maire passed away at 3:45am, and Gerry a few hours later at 5:20pm.