Sr. Kevin OCSO Glencairn

Glencairn

Monday, 29 November 2010 17:00

November 28, 2010 : Sister Kevin O'Farrell. Born in 1921 in Shanballymore (Ireland), she entered Glencairn in 1939 and made her solemn profession in 1944. She held the office of Prioress for some years. Sister was 89 years old and had been in monastic vows for 69 years when the Lord called her.

Death of Sister Kevin O’Farrell OCSO

29 November 2010  

Sr. Kevin OCSO Glencairn Abbey

Our dear Sister Kevin died very peacefully last night at 11pm, 28 November, 2010.  Sister Kevin had been professed as a Cistercian Nun for 69 years, having entered the community in 1939 at the age of 18, just 7 years after Glencairn’s foundation in 1932.
  
Mary Teresa Patricia O’Farrell was born on 16 March, 1921, in Shanballymore, Co. Cork, where her family had farming and retail interests.  Her father, having been twice widowed, had married three times, and she was born into a large, close-knit, caring and devoted family with whom she always remained in close contact.  One of her brothers joined the Cistercians in Roscrea, taking the name of Kevin; he eventually became Abbot in a daughter house of Roscrea, Tarrawarra Abbey in Australia.  On leaving school, Sister Kevin entered Glencairn on 29 October, 1939, taking the name Sister Mary Kevin.  She made Temporary Profession on 5 November, 1941, and Final Profession on 5 November, 1944.
  
During her long life in Glencairn, this much loved Sister worked generously and faithfully in the many duties assigned to her, including working in the garden and the wardrope, milking the cows, working on the poultry farm, taking a great interest in all her work.  She also held the office of Junior Directress, and was Prioress for many years.  Her gentleness, accessibility, kindness and compassion endeared her to all in the community and during the last few years of her life, when she was confined largely to her room, she warmly welcomed all who came to her to confide their difficulties, request prayers or have a chat.  She lived through the inevitable ups and downs of community life with great patience and without complaint.
She was a woman of deep prayer with a great trust in the goodness of God, devoted to the Divine Office and also very careful always about her daily Lectio Divina.
 
She will be greatly missed by her community, family and friends and we continue to rely on her prayers for us now that she is with the Lord, as we relied on them during her lifetime here in Glencairn. 
May she rest in God’s eternal embrace.