Born in Cloontarriff, County Mayo on the 10th July 1929, Mary Julia Byrne grew up in an environment that was immersed in religious devotion. Just a stone’s throw from her family farm was the Knock Shrine. On her way to school, Mary would frequently see pilgrims flocking there. The Far East magazine was where she first became acquainted with Columban mission and Mary began to feel the stirrings of her own vocation. She entered Cahiracon on the 11th February 1949.
Taking the name Sr. Mary Dorothea, she made her First Profession on 12 September 1951. Sr. M Dorothea was drawn to nursing and was dispatched to St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin for training. She qualified in 1959 and was temporarily assigned to Hong Kong’s Ruttonjee Sanatorium. By 1961, she had obtained a visa to work alongside the Columban Sisters in Myitkyina, Burma.
Despite the hazards of the military coup, the Columban Sisters at that time were managing a successful boarding school in the Kachin capital. As the community planned to expand their mission to Manbang, Dorothea was selected to help establish a clinic there. However, within a matter of months, skirmishes between Kachin nationalists and the Burmese military forced the Sisters to retreat to their base in Myitkyina. By 1966, with the grip of the military government tightening, the Columban Sisters were exiled from Burma.
Dorothea saw the expulsion as an opportunity to launch her next chapter. Training as a midwife in Holles Street Hospital in Dublin, she took up an assignment in St. Columban’s Hospital in Mokpo, Korea. For the next seventeen years, Dorothea divided her time between working as a midwife and championing the cause of natural family planning. She formed a warm friendship with Dr John Billings.
A sabbatical in 1984, allowed Dorothea to work in the infirmary in Dalgan Park and she also undertook a course in Pastoral Studies in Chicago. Following her return to Mokpo in 1989, she put the resources and personnel together to open a women’s shelter. Her experiences as a midwife had highlighted how many young mothers lacked a place of sanctuary where there was spousal abuse or unplanned pregnancies. Our Lady’s Home aimed to meet that need and the project proved to be one of Dorothea’s most enduring legacies. The Home continues to provide services to this day.
A trip to Myanmar in 1994 provided her with a cherished opportunity to reconnect with old friends. However, in 1996, Dorothea’s declining health prompted her return to Magheramore. Surrounded by the love and support of her caring community, she peacefully passed away on Christmas Eve 1996. Dorothea lived up to her motto: ‘Jesus, not my will but Thine be done’, dedicating her life, talents and strength to selfless service.
