1934-2025
Born: 7th May 1934
Entered Religious Life: 8th February 1954
Died: 1st September 2025
Sr. Anne Lally lived a very long and fulfilled life. The second youngest of eight children, she was born in Dublin on the 7th May 1934 to Patrick and Josephine Lally. She entered the Religious Sisters of Charity in Milltown, Dublin on the 8th February 1954 and was received as a Novice on the 16th August 1954 taking the name Sr. Ann Josepha. She made her First Profession on the 17th August 1956 and her Final Profession on the 17th August, 1959.
Sr. Anne was a woman of prayer and deep faith. Throughout her life Anne had a great love for the poor and her great desire was to enable, support and help people. She was a woman after Mary Aikenhead’s own heart.
Anne had a devoted family who visited her frequently. Her nieces and nephews loved her deeply and have very happy memories of family visits. Many times she called on the services of her brother Eddie, to arrange shipment of the various objects she would buy while at home and needed transported to Nigeria.
Education was very important to her and she was a wonderful teacher and principal. She did her initial Teacher Training in England followed later on by studying for her Advanced Diploma in Education. She did special studies to prepare for her ministry with children who were blind in Pacelli School and she followed this up with her Higher Diploma in Education while teaching at the School for the Visually Impaired in Merrion.
Her teaching career spanned forty-seven years. Her first twenty years was spent in England where she taught at Sowerby Bridge, Hammersmith and Bristol. She was missioned to the Nigerian Region in 1977 and between Pacelli School in Lagos, Nazareth School in Festac, Lagos, Sancta Maria School in Port Harcourt she spent another twenty years. After her first tour in Nazareth School she returned to Ireland and was principal in St. Agnes School in Crumlin. After her term in Crumlin she returned to Lagos.
Anne always looked out for people who were poor and disadvantaged and during her years in Nigeria she also visited the prison. One of the men who she befriended kept in touch with her for many years and she requested that a bundle of his letters to her be placed in her coffin to be buried with her.
After her teaching career she returned to Dublin and was missioned to Walkinstown. There she embraced many new ministries. She was involved in the Neighborhood Retreat movement, but a ministry that was very dear to her heart was visiting elderly sisters. Anne loved technology and it gave her great delight to set up mobile phones or tablets for the sisters in care and they were very appreciative of her visits and her efforts to educate them in the latest gadgets.
Anne had a very large family and she loved each one of them dearly. She kept abreast of all their activities. Last year for her 90th birthday they provided her with a huge celebration. This celebration gave her a new lease of life and kept her going for the next year.
Early last year she celebrated her Platinum Jubilee in February and her 90th birthday in May. Anne enjoyed every minute of the celebrations. As her health deteriorated it became necessary for her to be missioned to Catherine McAuley Nursing Home in Beaumont. She entered Catherine McAuley Nursing Home on the 28th August 2024 and there she died very peacefully on Monday the 1st September, 2025.
May she rest in peace.
