THE funeral has taken place for an Irish missionary nun who spent years working in Ethiopia at the height of the famine.
Galway native Sister Margaret Coyne died in Southport on August 15 at the age of 90.
One of seven siblings, she was born into a farming household in Cloonrane to parents Mary and John Coyne.
She is predeceased by her brothers Fr Pat Coyne and Colum Coyne, and her sister Mary Duff.
She leaves behind sisters Eileen McKiernan, Anne Mulligan and Sabina Higgins, the wife of former Irish president Michael D Higgins
In a tribute issued following her death, Mr Higgins described Sister Margaret as a “selfless, fiercely intelligent woman blessed with an enormous heart, indomitable spirit and a great sense of humour”.
Sister Margaret Coyne (Pic: Coyne family)He added: “Sister Margaret was an incredible woman who will be dearly missed by all of her family and relations, who was greatly loved and will be dearly missed by all of her family, colleagues, relations and friends who are incredibly appreciative and proud of her life and achievements.”
Sister Margaret trained as a nurse in Galway, before training in midwifery in Cork.
She later trained in Scotland and worked as a nurse in London before making the decision to take her vows and enter the Daughters of Charity order in London's Mill Hill at the age of 26.
In 1984 she volunteered to travel alone to Mekele in Tigray, Ethiopia to work as a polio nurse, just before the country experienced one of its worst famines.
For the next 23 years, she supported the people of Ethiopia by working on the ground as a nurse caring for the sick and those dying from malnutrition.
Later a Swiss eye surgeon who was living in the area at that time trained Sister Margaret in eye surgery.
“Over the next decades, Sister Margaret directly saved the sight of many thousands, through her surgery and through St Louise’s, the ophthalmological clinic she helped establish,” Mr Higgins said.
“The clinic also played a vital role in the provision of services for women, who were often the victims of sexual violence in the recurring conflicts in the region,” he added.
“Sister Margaret continued her work throughout conflict and war, with great courage.
“A group of Spanish ophthalmologists who encountered her clinic were deeply impressed and moved by her work, and they subsequently helped develop an international programme, Proyecto Visión, to support her work.”
After returning to London, Margaret continued nursing in the local community.
Recently she retired to Southport where she lived with other sisters from her order until her death.
Her funeral Mass was held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Mill Hill on September 2. She was buried in the Daughters of Charity cemetery in Mill Hil, where her aunt Sr Columba Coyne is also buried.
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