Sir, – It was very heartening to read Patsy McGarry’s account of Sr Orla Treacy’s work in South Sudan (“In a culture where cows are worth more than women, an Irish nun has dedicated herself to educating girls”, World, December 27th).
Sr Orla reminds me of several inspirational Irish sisters I had the honour of working with in Sierra Leone.
Hilary Lyons, a Holy Rosary sister from Mayo, a surgeon who founded and ran a hospital for 50 years.
Mary Sweeney, a Cluny sister from Donegal, who founded a school for deaf children in 1979 and has only recently retired.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/ZADUTLENDFQWC3WUAHUILIGE2Y.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/5ATBCWKQNFEGXDVQGAHW6DUWV4.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/H6FFIP5NVZDU3OFBMTF5Y3TJB4.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/SSPLBAIGU5JQFOEJH22HSOHOQ4.jpg)
Teresa McKeon, a Cluny sister who has worked continuously in Sierra Leone since 1954 where she recently celebrated her 93rd birthday
Teresa arrived in Sierra Leone in 1954 and started work in St Joseph’s Secondary School for Girls in Freetown. Appointed principal in 1958, within 10 years St Joseph’s was among the top three schools in Sierra Leone.
In 1975, Teresa was elected leader of the Cluny sisters in Sierra Leone, a position she held until 1983.
She then moved to a remote part of the interior to pioneer a women’s cooperative, including a savings and credit scheme. Despite the outbreak of the civil war in 1991, the cooperative thrived until 1994, when the area was overrun by the rebels. By this time over half the population in Sierra Leone was displaced.
Teresa travelled with her people to a refugee camp in neighbouring Guinea, where she remained until the end of the war in 2021.
In 2002 she returned with her people to the Kono district in Sierra Leone where she pioneered high-protein feeding for lactating mothers and newborn babies.
In 2003, at the request of the local paramount chief, Teresa set up a primary school. In 2012 a junior secondary school was opened, and a senior school followed in 2015.
Teresa recruited and trained all her teachers and in 2021 the school was among the top three in Sierra Leone.
Teresa is still in the school every day, having handed over the principalship two years ago.
I asked her recently if she would retire back to Ireland. Sure they’d only put me in a nursing home, she replied!
Sadly, Teresa is the last Irish missionary in Sierra Leone. – Yours, etc,
JOE MANNING,
Honorary Consul General
of Sierra Leone to Ireland,
Bagenalstown,
Co Carlow.