Mags Gargan
The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland has awarded an Irish missionary nun an Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health in recognition of her 42-year contribution to healthcare in Sierra Leone.
Mayo-born Sr Hilary Lyons graduated as a doctor from UCD in 1952, nine years after joining the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary, who took over Sierra Leone’s Surabu clinic in 1954. Under Sr Hilary’s leadership the clinic became a highly-regarded hospital with a training unit for nurses and midwives. As the principal doctor there, Sr Hilary was credited with the development of the hospital’s services and innovative approach to primary health care.
The author of two books, Where Memories Gather and Old Watering Holes, Sr Hilary is now retired and lives with her community in Dublin.