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Sister Damian
Rooney remembers.....
I can
still vividly remember the day in 1946 when I left for
China. It was a cold November morning when we set sail.
As the boat pulled out of the harbour in Dunlaoghaire, I found
myself unable to leave the wind-swept deck. I had to get a
last look at Ireland because I never expected to return again to my
native land.
Gradually the coast
line receded and we sailed out past Howth and into the Irish
Sea. We were on our way.
In England we managed
to get on an aircraft carrier called the Victorious. It had
seen service in the recently ended Second World War, and from its
deck war planes had taken off for the first time in history.
After a voyage that
seemed never ending, we eventually reached China. I worked
as a nurse in a place called Hanyang for four years before all
misionaries were asked by the Chinese government to leave the
country and our hospital was confiscated.
From China I went to
Hong Kong and worked there for 27 years.
But I did see Ireland
again! The Pope at that time, Puis XII, urged missionary
orders to allow their members return home to visit their
families. In 1956, the coastline of Ireland entered my view
as the plane on which I was travelling descened into the airport
over Dublin Bay and I again touched Irish soil.
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