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Sister Ellen
Muldoon was born in Cloonminda, Castlerea, Co. Galway,
Ireland. On the death of her father, Ellen travelled to the United
States with her mother. Soon afterwards the Second World War broke out, and they were
unable to return to Ireland because of the presence of German
submarines in the Atlantic.
Then Ellen’s
life took a different turn. She decided to join the Columban
Sisters, and went
to Silver Creek, New York where the sisters had a convent.
There she would wait for an opportunity to go to Ireland
and do her Novitiate. Shortly afterward, Sister Mary Patrick,
the superior, arrived in Silver Creek.
Ellen, tired of waiting, decided to brave the dangers of
the Atlantic and leave for Ireland with Sister Mary Patrick.
On December 6,
they sailed from New York on the Western Prince.
When they were about 400 miles west of Scotland, their
boat was torpedoed and they were left to drift in their life
boats in the cold Atlantic until eventually rescued.
After many
adventures they eventually reached the Motherhouse, and Ellen
was able to begin her Novitiate!
Eventually,
Ellen returned to the United States where she spent most of her
religious life. She spent many years in the Los Angeles area
where she worked in various parishes and was diocesan
coordinator for Hispanic Ministries for the Los Angeles
Archdiocese.
Ellen is now,
once again, back in Silver Creek, New York where her life as a
Columban Sister began. It
was there on May 12, that she celebrated her Diamond Jubilee and
no doubt gave thanks to God for a life that almost ended before
it began.
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