The book has touched the hearts of many around the world. We decided the time had come to produce a book, that would for the first time trace Kathleen’s life from the cradle to the grave. To include contemporary accounts of how Kathleen continues to influence people’s lives today and also to provide background information on Kathleen’s first biographer Brother Anselm Conway.
When we embarked on research for the book we were uncertain as to how much success we would have uncovering Kathleen’s hidden Life. The first discovery was made by locating a copy of her birth certificate. It revealed that Kathleen was a year older than she thought and also that her birthday was not on the one she celebrated, but it fell on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This was remarkable as Kathleen had a deep lifelong devotion to the Mother of God, witnessed by many. The fact that Kathleen, who prayed endless rosaries, had died on Oct the 7th which is the Feast of the Holy Rosary had already alerted us to Kathleen’s Marian connection. We then began the process of following in Kathleen’s footsteps.
During the process of researching Kathleen’s early years in Scotland we had help from many people including parish priests and archivists. Kathleen’s baptism certificate and photos of both the church and original font that Kathleen was baptised in were obtained from St John’s church, Perth. The Daughters of Charity, who were the religious order who looked after Kathleen in their orphanage in Lanark, provided records and period photos of Kathleen’s time spent there. Also St Mary’s church, in which Kathleen was confirmed, provided both photos and invaluable information. Our attention then turned to Ireland.
Attempts to connect with people on Achill, who might be able to help with our research, had not proved too successful. So as I flew into Knock International Airport I knew the research process would be a matter of ploughing virgin soil. But a happy set of ‘coincidences’ led to meeting the right people. This led to locating the house that Kathleen had lived in, obtaining period and contemporary photographs of her time on Achill and hearing memories of those who loved her. The journey then continued to Ballinrobe to uncover Kathleen’s final days.
The original Sanatorium is a grand edifice called ‘Creagh House’. It was built in 1875 and had come into use as a sanatorium in 1928. A small block building was later added to house more patients. It was to this sanatorium that Kathleen was sent in July 1946. Of Kathleen’s many saintly attributes recorded by Brother Conway were her love for God, her devotion to the Blessed Mother, her acceptance of the will of God, her self-sacrificing nature, her reverence of the Holy Mass, her devotion to prayer and her joyful disposition.
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