Sr. Maura O’Donoghue

Maura grew up in the 1930s in Kilfenora, Co. Clare. She joined the Medical Missionaries of Mary after completing her Novitiate in Mount Melleray. Her first assignment was to accompany the foundress, Mother Mary Martin on visits to many of the MMM houses around the world, and she says that Mother Mary was her inspiration and mentor. Maura was present for the opening of the Vatican II Council in 1962 and recalls the new ways of thinking which followed which allowed for more freedom in Catholic Church practices. In 1974, while Regional Superior in Spain, she was assigned to Ethiopia during the revolution there. She was based in Addis Ababba for over four years during the time of famine and describes her healthcare responsibilities at this times. She then spoke about her work in Africa and elsewhere in the 1980s, during the HIV pandemic. Finally, she recalls her missionary work in Bosnia, Chechnya and Iraq during the wars in those countries. She returned to Ireland in 2003 and worked with vulnerable people who had been trafficked from eastern European countries.