Sir, - The visit of past pupils of Our Lady of Lourdes Secondary School in Cameroon to Dublin (Ellen O’Donoghue, “They gave us very strong values: Graduates reunite with nuns who taught them”, News, April 27th) chimes with the recent Rite and Reason article (Gillian O’Brien, “Ignoring the contribution of nuns is wrong”, April 17th).
The reporting of the heartwarming reunion of the past pupils with their former teachers, the Irish Holy Rosary Sisters, highlights the valuable contribution made in education by Irish missionary nuns abroad.
Irish missionary nuns worked in education, health, social care and development. As a doctor, in the 1980s, I worked with the Holy Rosary Sisters for two years in their hospital in rural Zambia.
At first hand, I witnessed their work – one nun, Dr Lucy O’Brien from Galway, ran a national gynaecology service for women who had developed vaginal fistulas with double incontinence after childbirth.
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Her surgery was transformational and life-saving.
Another nun, Dr Eileen Keane from Limerick, established what may have been the first hospice in Zambia for destitute patients dying from Aids during the pandemic. She cared for patients who otherwise would have had long, painful deaths in the bush.
Details of Dr Keane’s work are outlined in her memoir, Go Ye Afar, published in 2021. Highlighting the good work done by Irish missionary nuns may start to bring some balance to the prevailing discourse. – Yours, etc,
JOHN SHEEHAN,
Associate Clinical
Professor,
UCD School of Medicine,
Belfield,
Dublin 4.