18. Birthplace of Edel Quinn

The birthplace of Edel Quinn is situated on the Buttevant Rd about 1 Km from the town. It is now in private ownership.

Edel Quinn was born in Breen’s farmhouse in the townland of Bluepool, September 14th, 1907. Her father was a bank clerk who was transferred to Clonmel when she was but a few months old. Her family eventually settled in Dublin in 1924.

Edel Quinn

Edel’s ambition to join a contemplative order of nuns was quashed by ill-health. She joined the Legion of Mary in 1927 and in 1936 she became a lay missionary when, as Legion Envoy, she was given the huge task of organizing the Legion in East Africa. This she did with phenomenal success before dying in Nairobi, May 12th 1944, exhausted by her labours at the early age of 37. Her life is the subject of a biography by Cardinal Suenen.  The promotion of the cause of her beatification is well advanced.