TRIBUTE TO SISTER MARY BRIGID HICKEY, KILDIMO. April 5, 1932 to May 7, 2012.

The death occurred after a protracted illness of Parkinson’s disease of Sister Mary Brigid Hickey, formerly of Old Kildimo.  Born on April 5 1932, to John and Mary, who died respectively in 1949 and 1941, she was predeceased by her sister Maura King Pallaskenry in 1983 and her brother Patsy in 2003. She is survived her brother John and sister Nell Brady. As a sixteen year old, the young aspirant left family and home to follow in the footsteps of Saint Francis and Saint Clare as an enclosed Franciscan Nun.  Enclosed religious life brought an awareness of the plight of others less fortunate and for Sister Brigid and her sisters this found expression in caring for Aids victims in Africa and fundraising at home in Arundel to pursue that work. Her early years were spent in Taunton in Somerset from where she went to Goodings near Newbury in Berkshire, before her final sojourn in Arundel in Sussex, in a convent founded by the Duke of Norfolk, the most high-ranking Catholic dignitary in the British aristocracy.  Sister Brigid’s sisters in religion paid tribute to the hard-working, strong and active Sister from Kildimo and noted her strict adherence to the rules she had espoused in her dedication to religious life.  Her exactness to timekeeping fitted her for the role of Convent Sacristan, whose task was to summon her sisters to regular church worship.  In her own spiritual life she was noted by her faithfulness to prayer, especially to the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross.  As a contemplative Sister with limited access to the outside world, Sister Brigid took great interest in the lives of her sisters in religion and their families and friends.  She was also a focus for unity among her own family relations in Kildimo and Pallaskenry, Dublin and London who visited her annually since ill health limited her movements.  Her family background in farming was a useful attribute in self-sufficient convent life, where sentiment would not always be allowed to rule over expediency.  Her saintly founding father Francis was noted for his love of nature and animals and in this Sister Brigid also found inspiration in her tender care of animals in need of special nurture as when she secreted sick chicks within the folds of her habit to keep them warm!  In her own latter years of dependency, she stood the test of illness with grace and dignity and with a warm smile she showed her thankfulness to those who ministered to her in her time of need.  She leaves a strong impression for good on those who shared her religious life and on her surviving relatives and friends, who had the privilege of sharing in that life of dedication that drew to a close on May 7 2012 followed by her funeral on May 15. May her gentle soul rest in peace.