Streamstown nun honoured with award from President

A Streamstown nun was recently recognised for her dedicated work in Sierra Leone with a Presidential Distinguished Service Award.

Sister Teresa McKeon received the accolade for her work in education and the development of women in the West Africa country.

The Presidential Distinguished Service Awards, presented by President Michael D Higgins, recognise the service given to this country or to Irish communities abroad by those who live outside Ireland.Sr Teresa (95), a sister of the St. Joseph of Cluny congregation, has ministered in Sierra Leone since 1954 serving as teacher, school principal, provincial leader of her congregation in West Africa, and in development work with rural women in Dambala near the city of Bo.

When the civil war started in 1994 she and her congregation had to flee the country and move to neighbouring Guinea where, until 2001, she worked with Sierra Leonean refugee women, children under five years, and young girls in five refugee camps.

Following the war, Sr Teresa returned to Sierra Leone and continued to work in all levels of education.

She also established and taught adult education courses in the areas of business, financial management, nutrition, catering and tailoring, her dedicated work ensuring women and men availed of opportunities in a challenging economic environment.

The award ceremony, hosted in Áras an Uachtaráin, was attended by Sr Angela Bangura on behalf of Sr Teresa who was unable to travel for the presentation.

Speaking at the ceremony, President Higgins said the Presidential Distinguished Service Awards allowed the nation to recognise those members of the country's global family who have contributed, in their different ways, so significantly to Ireland’s reputation on the international stage "as a country that understands the migratory experience, its challenges, responsibilities and the part that transience plays in all of our shared lives".

He said the awardees followed in the footsteps of others whose quiet determination to make a contribution beyond the self made us all proud of them.

"That spirit of generosity, and those qualities of an inward being and an inclusive outward gaze which so exemplify the best of our Irishness, have been practically and magnificently demonstrated by our honoured guests through their lives, their work, and their contribution of distinguished service to Ireland and to Irish communities abroad," President Higgins said.

Sr Angela brought the award back to Freetown and on St Brigid’s Day a special ceremony was held by the Irish Ambassador Aidan Fitzpatrick where, surrounded by children, former pupils, friends and fellow Cluny sisters, Sr Teresa was honoured.

Sr Teresa was previously recognised for her work in 2017 when she received the Order of the Rokel from the President of Sierra Leone for her "dedicated and meritorious service to the state in the fields of education and the development of women".