From Parkes to Coogee

8 April 1914. Catherine (Katie) Lynch, one of the foundation nurses, enters Our Lady’s Home. Kat

8 April 1914. Catherine (Katie) Lynch, one of the foundation nurses, enters Our Lady’s Home. Katie was born into a large pioneering family at The Welcome, near Parkes, NSW, in 1885. In early 1914, she attends a retreat conducted by Our Lady’s Nurses for the Poor co-founder, Rev. Edward (Ted) McGrath msc, in Parkes. Inspired by his comments about a newly-founded community of Catholic women who care for the sick poor in their own homes, Katie travels to Sydney to meet Eileen O’Connor. She joins the community soon afterwards. In November, she will accompany Eileen O’Connor on the fateful cruise to the Pacific Islands that will lead to Father McGrath’s expulsion from his order and Eileen’s clash with church authorities in Sydney. In time, Katie’s nieces, Eulalie (Lalie) and Bess McNamara, will join the community, while her sister, Mrs Martha Perrottet, will become one of its most fervent supporters.