Nationality:   British

Congregational Register No. 291

D.O.B.     03.02.1919

First Profession    01.06.1954

Died:      07.02.2010  Aged: 91 years

Charlotte Eliza Devine was born the second of three sisters in Dundee, Scotland.  She disliked her given names and called herself, Carol.  She trained at Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland, and became a Registered Nurse/Midwife, going on to obtain her Health Visitors Certificate in 1948. 

Carol Devine first wrote to Mother Mary in September 1949, expressing her desire to join the Congregation.  She was, however, unable to make an immediate commitment because she was responsible for the financial and emotional support of her widowed mother.  Her elder sister was already a religious and her younger sister was in the early days of her nurse training and required to live in at the hospital.  It would not be until May 1951 that Carol would enter MMM and take the name Sr. Patricia Ann (universally known as Pat Ann).

Following First Profession in 1954, she was assigned to Uganda to open a new mission with two other Sisters.  She was Matron and one of the founding members of Kitovu.  She suffered some health problems in Uganda and returned to Ireland in 1956.  She was to spend the next decade in Ireland working in the hospital at Drogheda.  During this time period she also cared for Bishop Kyne for a year.  She was regarded as an excellent nurse who demanded high standards.

From 1966 to 1981, Sr. Patricia Ann worked in varied location in Uganda, Kenya, Angola, Nigeria and England, finally spending two years in the U.S.A. doing CPE and Church Appeals before returning to Ireland.

Sr. Patricia Ann had a lovely singing voice, a good sense of humour, and was great at telling stories and generally entertaining people.  She also put her skills in complementary therapy and CPE to good use among the Sisters and the wider community in Drogheda.

In 2007 she transferred to Áras Mhuire because of declining health.  She remained happy and cheerful while she could get around on her walker but her final months were difficult for her as she became increasingly deaf and gradually immobile and confined to her room.  She was lovingly cared for by the Staff of Áras Mhuire and cheered by the frequent visits from her family who came over from Scotland to see her.  The Staff of Áras Mhuire were at her bedside when she died peacefully on the morning of 7th February 2010.