Drimoleague nun to be honoured in France

A FRENCH town is to honour a Drimoleague-born nun who helped 200 soldiers escape from Nazi-occupied France during World War II.

Sr Kate McCarthy, who was born in 1895 and grew up in Drominidy, left for France as a teenager to join the Franciscan Sisters of Calais, where she became known as Sister Marie-Laurence.

She spent time in the little town of Béthune in Northern France, which is to honour her heroics where a plaque will be unveiled in her memory later this month.

As a young nun she nursed Allied soldiers and civilians in World War 1 and then became involved in the French Resistance during World War II, helping soldiers who were looking for a safe place while awaiting their escape. It is estimated that St Kate helped around 200 British officers and soldiers escape.

However, in June 1941, she was captured by the Gestapo and was put in jail awaiting trial. Months later, she was condemned to death. She then spent time in a number of prisons and concentration camps before arriving in Ravensbruck, the only women-only concentration camp in Germany. She managed to avoid being selected for the gas chamber while there on four occasions, by running and hiding each time.

Following the liberation of the camp in 1945, Sr Kate returned to the UK where she was later awarded the Médaille de la Résistance by Charles de Gaulle and the Palm to Victoire by the British government.

She later returned to Cork and became mother superior of the Honan Home Convent and remained there until she passed away in 1971. She is buried at St Finabarr’s cemetery in Cork city.

Sr Kate still has many relations in West Cork, while her grand-son Tomas Hayes was born in her home place in Drominidy. Her life story is currently being documented for a book by writer Catherine Fleming.

The plaque in Sr Kate’s memory will be unveiled at the Franciscan Sisters cemetery on May 24th.