Mother Teresa: The Irish Connection

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a twentieth-century icon, a living example of the power of love. She is now on the fast track to sainthood. This book marks the 100th anniversary of her birth on August 26th 1910. Irish people feel a special affinity with this tiny Albanian nun but it is often forgotten that the order she chose to join was an Irish one, the Loreto Sisters, and she spent time as a novice in Dublin. Her ties with Ireland remained strong. She returned many times, was given the Freedom of Dublin City in 1993, and at the height of 'The Troubles' in 1971 sent a group of Sisters armed just with bedrolls and a violin to Belfast to help "in whatever little way" they could. John Scally has drawn together the strands of these connections, speaking to many well-known Irish people about their encounters with Mother Teresa and her abiding influence on their lives. However, the heart of this extraordinary book is the author's never-before-published interview with Mother Teresa, in which she revealed her love for Ireland and her wishes for peace on this island.