This month, we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Sister Fiona Corway, marking sixty years of dedicated service as a Religious Sister of Charity. In a special feature, Sr Fiona reflects on her life and ministries a journey of faith, compassion, and unwavering commitment.
We also extend our warmest congratulations to Sr Helen Cunningham Sr Jacqueline Doherty, and Sr Elizabeth Slattery who are also celebrating sixty years of faithful service and witness to the spirit of charity.
We give heartfelt thanks for their enduring dedication and the many lives they have touched through their presence, care, and example.
Interview with Sr Fiona Corway, Religious Sister of Charity, on the Occassion of the Celebration of her Diamond Jubilee.
- When did you first consider a religious vocation?
From an early age, I was nurtured in the Catholic faith by my parents and my school. My relationship with God was always central in my life, I felt God was the friend I turned to whenever I was sad, this developed into living a more prayerful life, and from this experience I felt called to give my life to God in the religious life.
- How did that progress and result in you becoming a Religious Sister of Charity?
I attended Mount St Anne’s Secondary School in Miltown, which was run by the Sisters of Charity. It was a natural development to enter there, as the novitiate was on the grounds of the school, and I had complete conviction that God wanted me there. I was 17 years of age.
- Can you tell us anything about your early ministries/did you spend time overseas?
After the novitiate, it was decided that I study nursing, which I always wanted to do. So, in 1970, I started my nursing training in St. Vincent’s Hospital, Elm Park. This began my journey. After my training, I was sent to Scotland; we had a hospice in Clydebank, St. Margaret’s Hospice. I was sent there as a Ward Sister; that was my first appointment. After three years, I was sent back to Dublin to study midwifery in the Coombe Hospital, which took one year. After this, I was sent to Zambia, and I was Ward Sister there for three years. After that, I came back to Dublin again and was sent to Cappagh Hospital to study orthopaedic nursing. From there, I was sent back to my alma mater, to St. Vincent’s Hospital, as Ward Sister. That ended the first stage of my life; that ended my nursing career.
- Are there any moments of spiritual fulfilment or personal growth that stand out to you?
Many things, I’ve always struggled between action and contemplation in my ministry. I even wished for a monastic vocation. As a result of a 30-day retreat, I was drawn to contemplative life, so I entered the Carmelite enclosed monastery in Blackrock, Dublin. I spent four years there. This experience nurtured and developed my spiritual life, and after this time, I re-entered the Religious Sisters of Charity. This brought me to the next phase of my life. I trained as a hospital chaplain, and this brought my ministry to England, in Birmingham, and then back to Dublin, to the hospice in Harold’s Cross, and then back to Vincent’s again. That ended another phase of my life because I came to retirement age then. Then I began a new phase as a parish sister in Donnybrook, where I am still working after 15 years..
- What are you particularly delighted or proud of when you look back on your life in religious?
The word I would use is gratitude. I feel so grateful to God for all he has done and all he is doing in me. Early in my religious life, I thought everything depended on me, that growth in the spiritual life was similar to training in the gym. Very gradually, I learned that I was at the centre instead of God. It took years to see that all his grace is freely given. The Holy Spirit brings about this transformation into Christ when we surrender in love, my will to God’s will. It’s about growth into Christ, so that the Lord is living his life through me. That is why our time given to prayer is so important to connect to the living Spirit within. The Holy Spirit guides everything we do; then active ministry is fuelled by contemplation, so that now I see that they complement each other.
- What legacy do you hope to leave behind through your work and your life as a religious sister of charity?
Legacy! I think only of the people I have been privileged to minister to over the past 60 years. Despite my own shortcomings and wrong turns, God is faithful, and these will be my witnesses. Amen.
