A Memorial Mass was celebrated just before Christmas for Sr. Paulinus McMahon OSC at Our Lady of Compassion Church, Formby.

 

Sister died on 22 November aged 90 years. Her funeral took place in her native Newry, Co. Down at St. Clare’s Convent with burial in the old convent graveyard on 25 November.

 

For twenty-five years, Sister had worked in her retirement in the former parish of St. Anne’s Freshfield with Fr. Edmund Leahy and Fr. John Bradley, who delivered the eulogy at the memorial Mass celebrated by Monsignor John Walsh.

 

Prior to that period of loyal and devoted service in parish work, she had from 1968 been Headmistress of St. Lawrence’s School in Kirkby, where she will be well remembered by many former staff and pupils.

 

Sister was part of a team from her order who lived in Bewley Drive and who worked among the schools and parishes of Kirkby from the very early days of its foundation and growth. Sister Paulinus was born Martha Theresa McMahon on March 26th, 1933.

 

One of 13 children to Patrick and Theresa in Grinan, Newry, Co. Down. Just one sister, Lily, now survives her. Sr. entered the religious life in 1948 aged just 15 and made her final profession in 1954. She trained as a teacher in London before holding posts in Newry, Keady, Corby, and Leicester, before arriving in Kirkby.

 

In June 2014, she returned home to Ireland, where she was cared for in periods of ill health by the staff and community of St Clare’s Convent. She enjoyed keeping in touch with her extended family and friends from Ireland, Merseyside, and Northamptonshire.

 

A large congregation gathered in Formby to remember a gentle and prayerful soul with a wonderful laugh and sense of humour who will be greatly missed on both sides of the Irish Sea.

 

Ar dheis De go Raibh a anam dilis