Obituaries of Sr. Íde Woulfe (2015)

Two obituaries remember the life of Sr. Íde (Honora J.) Woulfe, of Abbeyfeale. The first was prepared by her order, the Sisters of Saint Louis,; the second appeared on January 25, 2015, in the Irish News, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she died.

Sr Ide Woulfe SSL Rest in Peace

Homily at the funeral Mass of Íde Woulfe SSL, given by Fr David de Largy

It is with a deep sense of gratitude that we acknowledge today the friendship, the support, the encouragement and sisterly care that Íde experienced among you in the Congregation of St Louis over the course of those many years and especially from her sisters in St Louis House—Sr Luca, Sr Shiela, Sr Mary and Sr Anne.

Sr Íde was born on the December 3, 1915 in Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick. The name given to her at baptism was Honora Josephine. She was one of five children, born to her parents Catherine and Richard. What a wonderful witness to the faith those parents must have given, for all five of those children eventually entered religious life. Her brothers Con, Micheál and Risteard were ordained as priests for the Holy Ghost Fathers. Her sister Agatha joined the Sisters of the Holy Rosary and Honora Josephine joined the Sisters of St Louis, taking her new name Sr Íde.

The earliest years of Honora’s childhood coincided with a period of profound political upheaval in Ireland. Her uncle, Con Colbert, played a leading role in the 1916 Easter Rising, and would later be executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin at the age of just 27. Her father, Richard was the local pharmacist in Abbeyfeale. On one occasion the Black and Tans visited the town. They put her father against a wall and threatened to shoot him. When they set his house on fire, her father somehow managed to escape with his wife and young family. Several years later, after things settled down a bit, the family were able to return to Abbeyfeale, where Honora Josephine completed her primary education in the Local National School.

In her teenage years, during which she was a pupil at St Louis Secondary School in Monaghan, Honora was, by her own account, a bit of a tomboy, often disregarding the rules and getting herself into trouble. Such unseemly behaviour was evidently no obstacle to pursuing a vocation in religious life, for in 1936, after completing a three-year period of formation, Honora made her religious profession to become Sr Íde in the Congregation of St Louis. 

Her first appointment was to teach in Ailesbury in England, and that was followed by a short period teaching in Balla, in Co Mayo. In 1946, she was appointed Assistant Mistress of Novices in Monaghan. During those years Íde gained a reputation for being tough, strict, forthright, a straight talker who shot from the hip but at the same time she was always fair and just. These leadership qualities stood her in good stead throughout the remainder of her life as she subsequently undertook greater roles and responsibilities.

Íde’s real vocation was to the missionary life. On four occasions she asked to be sent on the missions and four times she was refused on the grounds that her health not sufficiently robust to withstand the rigours of missionary life. After training as a nurse in England and after completing a further course in midwifery in Drogheda, she requested for a fifth time to be sent on the missions and this time her request was granted. She travelled to Ghana where she was entrusted with the responsibility of running a hospital. She was, by all accounts, a great worker. She worked tirelessly and selflessly. She would never ask anyone to do anything she wasn’t prepared to do herself. She was always the first to volunteer for any task, especially if it was an unpleasant one. In later years, as she recalled that period of her life, she could be justifiably proud of all that had been achieved.

Throughout her life Sr Íde remained totally committed to her religious congregation. After the Second Vatican Council, when rules about the wearing of religious habits were relaxed, she was concerned about younger sisters going off the rails a bit. She remained protective of the old customs and ways, and all her life continued to wear the religious veil, while working in a public capacity.

After a short time nursing in Nigeria, Sr Íde spent a year on sabbatical in California where she trained as a hospital chaplain. Providentially her brother, Fr Michael, was living and ministering in San Francisco. It was a golden opportunity for them to re-connect and to spend some time together.

Returning to Belfast, Sr Íde was nominated by Bishop Patrick Walsh to be Catholic Chaplain at The City Hospital. This was a work that she loved. It gave her the opportunity to accompany the sick and the dying, to support their families, to calm fears, to restore hope. After more than twenty years tending to the spiritual needs of the sick, Sr Íde eventually retired to parish life.

At the invitation of the then parish priest, Fr Sean McCartney, she took up the work of visiting the sick and the housebound. Each day she would venture out on her rounds to spend time with the sick, to listen to their concerns, to pray with them and to administer Holy Communion. It was a responsibility she took very seriously. Full of vitality and energy she walked everywhere to visit the ones she sometimes referred to as her ‘little old ladies’, which was a bit rich really, since she was considerably older than most of them. But she loved them all and they loved her back.

In recent years as her physical strength declined and she was no longer able to go out and about, she continued her life of service through a ministry of prayer. She prayed especially for all the young people who come through St Louis House, and she took a great interest in all the faith-building initiatives and activities involving the young people of the parish. During the recent Year of Consecrated Life, Sr Íde made it her special mission to pray for vocations to the religious life to be rekindled in Ireland.

Sr Íde passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning after a short period of illness. She would have been celebrating her 100th birthday this coming December, and her 79th year in religious life next month. Today we wish to give thanks for the life of this faithful servant of God. We are full of gratitude for this woman who spent her life in doing good for others.

In the gospel we hear about Martha lamenting the death of her beloved brother Lazarus. You’ll recall that Martha and her sister Mary were great friends of Jesus and they often offered him hospitality in their home. Martha was the active one, the one who expressed her love through practical service of others. Mary was the contemplative one who demonstrated her love through quiet and humble attentiveness to the Lord. Two sisters, one active, the other contemplative—both equally generous and selflessly loving. In a very real way Sr Íde managed successfully to combine both of these approaches, loving Christ in the most practical of ways as she tended to him in the sick, the suffering and the dying, and loving him just as intently in the quiet moments of prayer that were so much part of her life and her daily habit.

Over the past ten months, I had the privilege of attending Sr Íde in her home on Hillhead Crescent. On those occasions we prayed together and we talked about the difficulties of maintaining a meaningful spiritual life in the context of old age and infirmity. On those visits Sr Íde allowed me a privileged insight into her spiritual life and her struggles. I was touched by her humility and inspired by her sincere desire to serve God faithfully at all times. And I was impressed by her determination to persevere to the end in her relationship with the Lord to whom she was united in baptism and in her religious life.

The words of St Paul as he approached the end of his life seem very apt to me now in this context. “For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now all there is in store for me is the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

Sr Íde poured out her life as a love offering to Christ her Saviour. She fought the good fight and ran the race to the finish. She kept the faith. May God bless Sr Íde today and bestow upon her that crown of righteousness. May Christ Jesus who is the resurrection and the Life be faithful to his promise and bring her to the fullness of life in the heavenly kingdom. This we ask with confidence through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Long life of service to a higher calling

Sister Íde Woulfe, who died just months short of her 100th birthday, was a comforting presence in the lives of countless people as a chaplain at Belfast City Hospital.

With a resolute faith and great listening ear, she calmed fears, restored hope and supported worried families.

It was work she loved and when the time came to retire, Sr Íde continued to visit the housebound in the parish of St Michael the Archangel in west Belfast.

Living with the small community of St Louis nuns, each day she would venture out on her rounds to spend time with the sick, listen to their concerns and pray with them.

Full of vitality and energy, she walked everywhere as she visited what she called “my little old ladies”, although many were younger than her. She loved them, and they loved her.

In recent years, as her strength declined, she continued her long life of service through prayer. She prayed especially for young people, and that vocations would be rekindled in Ireland.

All five of her own family had taken holy orders—her sister Agatha was a Sister of the Holy Rosary and her brothers Con, Micheál and Risteard were Holy Ghost fathers.

Born Honora Josephine Woulfe in Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick, she was a niece of Conn Colbert, who was executed for his part in the 1916 Rising.

After boarding with the St Louis Sisters in Monaghan, she was professed a nun in 1936 and taught in Buckinghamshire and Balla, Co Mayo, before becoming an assistant mistress of novices back in Monaghan.

Four times she was refused a missionary posting on health grounds, but after training as a nurse and midwife Sr Íde was finally sent to Ghana, where she ran a hospital.

After a short time nursing in Nigeria, she spent a year in California where she prepared for her work in Belfast, and was also able to reconnect with her brother Micheál in San Francisco.

A creative, outgoing person, when not working Sr Íde loved tending to her garden at Hillhead Crescent.

She passed away in the early hours of July 4, after almost 79 years in a family of servants of a higher calling. She was buried in Hannahstown.

Top of the page: Abbeyfeale, early twentieth century (Echoes of Abbeyfeale)