Kerr, Sr. M. Benedict

Nationality:    Irish
Congregational Register No. 177
D.O.B.:    23.12.1919
First Profession:   07.09.1949
Died:  07.01.2010   Aged:  90 years
Christina Kathleen Kerr was raised in Dundalk, Co. Louth, with two brothers and two sisters.  As a child she spent a lot of time in Cappagh Orthopaedic Hospital. At that time Cappagh was in the middle of the country, surrounded by open fields and fresh air, which was considered beneficial for sick children.  While Christina was in Cappagh, she met another little girl, Anne Bridget Joan Clifton, later to become MMM’s Sr. Joan of Arc.  Was it just a happy coincidence that both girls would grow up to become MMMs?

(more…)

Sr Marita KerinsSister Marita was born in Macroom, Co. Cork, Ireland on the feast of the Holy Innocents, 28 December 1932. Her parents christened her Brigid Mary Innocent and she was known to her family as ‘Inny’. She was the second child in a large family and received her early education at the Mercy Convent, Macroom. After qualifying as a pharmacist in the College of Pharmacy in Dublin in 1957, she worked in retail pharmacy in various towns in Ireland and assisted her father in the pharmacy at home before joining MMM in 1960.

(more…)

Congregational Register No. 272
D.O.B. 28.12.1925
First Profession 08.09.1953
Died: 19.11.2003
Aged: 77 years

Sr Brigid KeoghBorn in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, of a family of six children, Brigid trained as a registered mental nurse before joining MMM in 1950. During her second year novitiate training, she began upgrading to registered general nurse and later did her midwifery training. Between times she worked as a staff nurse in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

In 1960, Sr. Fintan, as she was then known, was assigned to Naples, Italy and from there to Ethiopia where she remained until 1967. After she returned to Ireland, she worked as home sister in the nurses’ hostel in Drogheda for two years and then had the privilege of nursing Mother Mary Martin for almost five years.

Following a short period of renewal and updating, Sr. Brigid was assigned to Uganda. She worked as a ward sister in Kitovu Hospital for three years. Back in Ireland she worked mainly in Dublin and in Drogheda in fund-raising and later in parish ministry and prayer groups.

During much of her life, Sr. Brigid suffered from ill health. Illnesses in her youth led to a certain gentleness in her personality and to a deep compassion for the suffering of others In 2001, Sr. Brigid was transferred to Áras Mhuire where she died in 2003, just a few weeks after celebrating her Golden Jubilee. She is buried in Drogheda.

Born in 1923 at Kilmainham Wood, Co. Meath, Sister Eileen was educated at Loreto College, Cavan, before joining the Medical Missionaries of Mary in 1944.

After religious profession, she qualified as a midwife at the Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, and in 1953 took up her first missionary assignment in Tanzania. She was among the pioneering community who founded Makiungu Hospital, near Singida, and has recorded vivid memories of those early days.

(more…)

Sr. M. Columbanus KennyNationality: Irish
Congregational Register No: 37
D.O.B. 30.03.1911
First Profession: 02.07.1943
Died: 06.10.1975 Aged: 64 years
It would seem that even though she might have wanted to ‘hide her light under a bushel’, there was no hiding from Mother Mary the many gifts Sarah Kenny of Ballymacward, Co. Galway, had to share with MMM.

(more…)

Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No. 719
D.O.B. 25.02.1924
First Profession 03.10.1967
Died: 30/01/2005  Aged: 80 years
Ellen Kenna was born in Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny. She had one brother and three sisters and was educated at the Mercy Convent, Balleyragget and the Brigidine Convent in Abbeyleix. Some time after leaving school Ellen moved with her family to Dublin. Like many young ladies of the time, Ellen stayed at home for many years, taking care of her parents and the house.

(more…)

Sister Patricia was born Bridget Patricia Kelly in Ricehill, Co. Cavan in 1925. Known as Pat, she joined the Medical Missionaries of Mary in 1943, after completing her leaving certificate. She was soon sent off to Dublin to study medicine in UCD. In MMM’s early days, Sisters were often sent off to assignments at short notice.   Soon after qualifying, she was assigned to Nigeria. From 1951 to 1953 she worked in Anua and Urua Akpan.

(more…)

Nationality: Irish
Congregational Register No: 163
D.O.B. 03.02.1922
First Profession: 17.03.1949
Died: 15.01.1993 Aged: 70 years

Baptised Mary, Sr. M. Perpetua Kelly, from Athlone, Co. Westmeath, entered MMM in Rosemount on 20 August 1946.

(more…)

Sr. M. Dolores KellyNationality: Irish
Congregational Register No: 82
D.O.B. 26.02.1919
First Profession: 16.03.1948
Died: 05.05.1992 Aged: 73 years

Sheila Kelly, one of a family of twelve girls and one boy (who became a priest), came from Dublin. She was a qualified pharmacist when she entered MMM on 15 September 1942.

(more…)

Andrea Kelly MMMSister Andrea was born Annie Kelly in Glasgow, Scotland in 1922. Her family emigrated to Clifton, New Jersey, USA, in 1927 and she completed her first level education (grade school) there. When Andrea was eleven the family returned to Glasgow and she obtained her GCE and trained as a nurse-midwife. She worked in Glasgow as a health visitor for five years and as a district midwife for five years and before joining the Medical Missionaries of Mary in 1959.

(more…)

USA