151:, leading to the hospital and other buildings being repeatedly shelled and bombed. The local medical facilities were overwhelmed by refugees and casualties from both sides. O'Brien and her fellow aid workers worked in dangerous conditions, witnessing the famine which then devastated the local area. She had to leave Nigeria when the conditions worsened, alongside hundreds of other expatriates.
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from the 1990s onwards. O'Brien was central to many of the efforts to cope with Zambia's health crisis, sitting as a member of the country's medical council, the national AIDS advisory committee, the board of the
University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, and the executive of the Church Hospitals'
111:, County Galway on 17 August 1923. She was the second eldest of the eight children of Michael O'Brien and Nora (née Connolly). She had three sisters and four brothers. She attended the Mercy convent school in Tuam. She entered the convent of the
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Association of Zambia. In
Ireland, her family and friends assisted in fundraising, for AIDS relief and other projects in Zambia which O'Brien started or aided with after her retirement in 1999. In 2004 when the Co-operative Society's shop in
170:) in 1976. She worked there until 1999, treating and operating on thousands of women and facilitating the training hundreds of doctors at postgraduate level. With her expertise, Monze became the national centre for repairing
139:. In 1959 she received a diploma in tropical medicine and hygiene, and for the next 14 years she worked in mission hospitals in west Africa. Alongside her colleagues, O'Brien opened the St Charles Borromeo hospital in
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closed, the members decided to donate the funds to charity, and O'Brien used the fund of €10,000 to establish a farming development project in Zambia.
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She died in Lusaka on 10 April 2006, and was buried in
Chikuni Mission near Monze. In 2018, a new Zambian health post was named in honour of O'Brien.
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This allowed O'Brien to travel to
England for further training in gynaecology, obtaining Membership of the
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for four years. After a year in Rome, O'Brien took up a post as an obstetrician and gynaecologist in
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99:(17 August 1923 – 10 April 2006) was an Irish missionary sister and doctor in Africa.
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Lunney, Linde (2012). "O'Brien, Mary Lucy". In McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.).
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Mary Lucy O'Brien was born Nora
Veronica O'Brien in Ballinderry, near
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and the federal government, with
Onitsha being the capital of the
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191:In 1998 O'Brien was made an honorary fellow of the
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322:"HEALTH MINISTER EULOGIZES LATE DR. LUCY O'BRIEN"
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408:Roman Catholic missionaries in Nigeria
320:Smart Eagles Reporter (20 June 2018).
296:"An Appreciation: Sister Lucy O'Brien"
193:Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
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438:Irish expatriates in Sierra Leone
393:Irish Roman Catholic missionaries
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79:Medical Doctor, Missionary Nun
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236:Dictionary of Irish Biography
135:In 1953, O'Brien was sent to
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256:BMJ: British Medical Journal
458:Irish women medical doctors
418:Irish expatriates in Zambia
250:Kelly, John (8 July 2006).
181:Newcastle, County Tipperary
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448:Irish expatriates in Italy
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121:University College Dublin
70:University College Dublin
103:Early life and education
428:21st-century Irish nuns
368:20th-century Irish nuns
294:P.H. (14 August 2006).
168:Monze District Hospital
86:Sister Dr Lucy O'Brien
25:Sister Dr Lucy O'Brien
35:Nora Veronica O'Brien
388:Irish gynaecologists
383:Irish obstetricians
187:Awards and honours
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50:10 April 2006
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160:Sierra Leone
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52:(2006-04-10)
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358:2006 deaths
353:1923 births
347:Categories
211:References
268:0959-8138
331:28 March
305:28 March
172:fistulas
60:, Zambia
277:1489258
141:Onitsha
137:Nigeria
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145:Biafra
131:Career
58:Lusaka
164:Monze
115:, in
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333:2020
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264:ISSN
109:Tuam
47:Died
31:Born
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