Sister Joachim was born Mary Brigid McGuinness in Glebe, Ardee, Co. Louth in 1923. Known as Maureen within her family, she attended primary school in Ardee. She then trained in domestic science in the technical school in Ardee and in domestic economy at the St. Louis Sisters in Monaghan.
Joachim joined MMM in 1944. She was seriously ill as a novice and made her first profession of vows on what was presumed to be her deathbed. Happily she made a remarkable recovery and lived almost to the age of ninety-six years.
Sister Margaret Ann (Mollie) was born Margaret Mary McGrath in the East End of London in 1926. She had two sisters, Patricia and Lily, who predeceased her, and one brother, Bill. She was educated in Notre Dame School in Southwark. During World War II she joined the Land Army. This was a civilian organisation created during the First and Second World Wars so women could work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. They picked crops and did all the jobs that the men would do. In recent years Margaret Ann received an award from the British government in recognition of her contribution. When the war ended she was employed by the Bank of England.
Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No. 616
D.O.B. 17.04.1929
First Profession 03.10.1964
Died: 11.10.2002 Aged: 73 years
Born in Kildare, Agnes McGrath did her early schooling in the Presentation Convent. After finishing school she worked in an office. She entered MMM aged 31 and took the name Sr. M. Ines. After her initial formation, she worked in the hospital cafeteria in Drogheda. In 1965 Sr. Ines began nurse training but discontinued after a year and a half, feeling she was not suited to nursing. She worked in the Apostolic nunciature in Dublin for five years, before returning to Drogheda to work at the reception desk in the IMTH. In 1973 she was assigned to the USA. She spent a year in Winchester, MA, and returned to Ireland to do a commercial course. After this she worked in the hospital in Drogheda in a variety of jobs before being assigned to Tanzania in 1979.
Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No: 216
D.O.B. 20.11.1929
First Profession: 08.09.1951
Died: 18.03.1995 Aged: 66 years
Sr. Martina came from near Strabane in Co. Tyrone and had been baptised Annie Josephine. She entered MMM in Drogheda on 11 January 1948.
In 1960, after general nurse and midwifery training, she was assigned to Nigeria where she worked in Abakaliki until 1967. On her return to Ireland, she spent some time nursing Mother Mary and did a course in the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool.
Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No: 134
D.O.B. 25.02.1911
First Profession: 02.07.1947
Died: 01.01.1999 Aged: 87 years
Baptised Brigid, from Carna, Co. Galway, in the Gaeltacht, the Irish-speaking area of Ireland, Sr. Kevin entered MMM on 27 December 1944.
Already a qualified nurse, she took up duty in Anua, Nigeria, as matron from 1949 to 1953, after serving one year as assistant novice mistress in Drogheda.
Sister Brigid was born in Dublin in 1935. An only child, she lost both of her parents when she was young. Her aunts and uncles were very good to her and she was very close to her cousins. She completed her early education in Dublin and joined the Medical Missionaries of Mary in 1953.
After profession she trained as a pharmacist. She then studied theology in Rome and spent the next six years in Drogheda guiding women in their early stages in MMM.
Nationality: Canadian
Congregational Register No: 543
D.O.B. 06.06.1941
First Profession: 17.03.1961
Died: 25.08.1992 Aged: 51 years
Maureen came from Toronto, Canada, and entered MMM in Winchester, Massachusetts, on 12 September 1958. After profession she came to Ireland where she studied medicine at University College Dublin.
Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No: 329
D.O.B. 22.08.1922
First Profession: 26.04.1955
Died: 03.03.2000 Aged: 77 years
Mona McDermott, from Co. Sligo entered MMM on 15 August 1952. She was already a qualified nurse and had been staffing for six years, so her nursing ability was quickly called on for the IMTH.
Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No.
D.O.B.: 24.04.1919
First Profession 02.07.1956
Died: 07.11.2009 Aged: 90 years
Angela Margaret McDermott came from Warrenpoint in Co. Down. She was educated at the primary school in Warrenpoint and at the Sacred Heart Convent, Armagh. After completing her secondary education, Angela studied at the School of Physiotherapy, Hume Street, Dublin.
Her overseas assignment was to Nigeria, where she went in 1961 and worked in two MMM hospitals there: St. Luke’s at Anua and St. Mary’s at Urua Akpan.
When she retired from professional life, Eugene was regarded as a great treasure in the MMM Motherhouse. Prayer was the guiding force in her life. She took great interest in the activities of younger sisters and was always an encouragement to them.
