‘Iconic’ Lombardstown nun is the Cork Person of the Month
‘TO THIS DAY SR PHILOMENA IS CONSIDERED TO BE AN ICONIC FIGURE IN SOUTH KOREA’
A NUN from North Cork who has spent more than five decades working as a nursing missionary in South East Asia has been honoured for her selfless dedication to the sick and poor of Korea with the Cork Person of the Month award for June.
After joining the Columban Sisters in 1949, Sr Philomena O’Sullivan from Lombardstown near Mallow trained as a nurse at Cork’s Mercy Hospital.
In June 1955, she and her companion, St Mary David Mannion, left Ireland for Korea – a country still reeling from the brutality of the Korean War, which had ended just two short years earlier.
Sixty-two years later to the month, Sr Philomena recalled the gruelling journey that took her into what was then, and still is, one of the most politically unstable regions on the planet.
“We travelled by boat from Cobh to New York, from there travelling on a Swedish freighter from Los Angeles to Tokyo, via Manilla. From Tokyo, we boarded a US army plane to Korea,” said Sr Philomena.
Shortly after arriving in Korea, they were sent to the southern seaside town of Mokpo, a journey that today would take two-hours but back then involved a 12-hour train journey. After spending six-months working in the Columban Sisters’ clinic there, Sr Philomena was transferred to the north of the country, where she experienced at first-hand the suffering the war had inflicted on the Korean people.
She helped to treat thousands of people forced to flee from North Korea, many of whom suffered from malnutrition and other serious conditions including tuberculosis. Others needed treatment from injuries sustained during the war, including civilians maimed by land mines.
“People flocked there, often queueing up from late at night to receive medical treatment. We were able to source medicines from the US, samples from doctors offices and some of the pharmaceutical companies. We also received help from the US army, which enabled us to treat the local people at our clinic,” said Sr Philomena.
After 17-years Sr Philomena was appointed Regional Superior of all the Sister Communities in Korea and transferred back to Mokpo where she continued to work with the sick and poor at a local hospital.
She travelled back to Ireland in 1971 to train as a midwife at St Finbarr’s hospital.
After returning to Korea three-years later she helped establish a clinic and weaving industry on the coastal island of Cheju.
Forced to move home in 1977 after suffering a stroke, Sr Philomena returned to Mokpo in 1979 and along with two doctors and four sisters established a hospital where she worked in paediatrics and out-patients. During that time she and colleagues also cared for patients at a leper colony on Sorokdo Island.
Sr Philomena stayed in Mokpo until 2009, returning to Ireland she celebrating her Diamond Jubilee with her fellow Sisters in Maghermore, Co Wicklow where she continues to live in retirement.
The organiser of the Cork Person of the year awards, Manus O’Callaghan, said that while the work of sisters like Sr Philomena is not well known in Ireland, they are “recognised as heroines” in the countries where they work.
If fact, Sr Philomena has herself been honoured with two awards by the Republic of Korea for her outstanding service and contribution to healthcare.
“To this day, Sr Philomena is considered to be an iconic figure in South Korea, and I’m delighted that we have this opportunity to acknowledge her lifelong dedication to missionary work,” said Mr O’Callaghan.
Sr Philomena’s name will now go forward for possible selection as the 2017 Cork Person of the Year, the winner of which will be unveiled at a gala lunch awards ceremony next January.