Sr Mary Annunciata was born in Lorrha, in North Tipperary on 14 March, 1922 to William Nevin and Jane O’Brien. At her baptism she received the name Mary. She was the second eldest of six children all of whom died before her. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in Doon on 2 February, 1942 and made Profession on `3 December 1944.
Mary was multi-talented, she had attended Home Economics school in Portumna but her giftedness extended far beyond culinary skills. In Doon she was known as Sr Mary of the Farmyard and the farm work entailed early mornings in all kinds of weather. Some of the young boys from the village loved coming up to help her and they were always welcomed and sometimes rewarded with apples. No matter what, she was always available, whether it was electrical, plumbing, sometimes mediation when a difficulty needed intervention, help with a First Communion outfit. She was warm and interested with a great sense of humour and lots of common sense and was generous and kind.
Later in her life she worked in the convent gardens; they were always beautiful with glorious arrays of flowers for each season, daffodils, narcissi, snowdrops, roses, dahlias, chrysanthemums. We didn’t realise just how wonderful it was to look out the convent windows and see the perfection and the colour. With her green fingers, around September and October, there was a large supply of tomatoes and grapes from the greenhouse. This was usually a treat for Mercy Day, 24 September. She was a member of the Tipperary Flower Club and they won many awards for floral arranging.
Sr Mary was sacristan in Doon Parish Church for over forty years for which she received a Bene Merenti medal. As sacristan she attended all church functions, cleaning, floral decoration, weddings, baptisms, funerals, altar servers, visiting priests, the archbishop, and again, her facility for relating to all she met, local or stranger, and her concern, shone through in all situations.
Her death left a gap for her beloved nieces and nephews, the sisters and Doon parish. She died on 20 June, 2013 after a short stay in Catherine McAuley Nursing Home in Limerick. Her funeral Mass was in Doon and she is laid to rest in the Sisters plot in Doon cemetery. May she rest in peace.