Ann (Annie) McDonagh was born on August 12, 1930, the tenth child of a family of 11 children born to John and Bridget Collins McDonagh in Trienbawn, Ireland. Her siblings included Mary, Julia, Michael, Delia, Sarah, Willie, Sister Frances, Eileen and Father Jarlath. Her parents owned a small farm of about 40 acres in County Galway.
She was baptized on August 16, 1930, in Belclare Church in Galway, Ireland. She was confirmed on July 17, 1942, in the same church.
At the age of 5 she started her first school days at Sylane National School. She remained there until she was 15 years of age doing ordinary school subjects. After leaving Sylane National School, she spent a year helping her family at home. Then she went to the Presentation Convent School as a day student for almost four years. The first two years were spent doing regular classes and the remainder of the time on commercial subjects. That prepared her to go to London, England, and work in an office as a copy typist.
While in England she decided that she wanted to enter a religious community. She had visited her sister, Sister Frances OSU, in Kettering, England, at various times. She received permission from her parents and the Mother General in Germany and entered the Ursuline community in Kettering, England, on October 15, 1951. After 11 months she began her novitiate in Kettering, England. In 1952, she was sent to Calvarienberg, Germany. She spent the next two years at the Motherhouse in Germany. After her first profession of vows in 1954, she was missioned to the United States and came by the ship Liberty. At that time Belleville was one of their missions.
She came to Belleville, Ill., and began classes at Webster College in St. Louis. She did community service at the convent. From 1956 to 1959, she attended nursing school at DePaul Hospital in St. Louis. During that time, she made final vows.
During 1959 and 1960 she took care of the retired sisters at the Motherhouse in
Belleville. It was at this time that she was asked to attend school at Marillac College in St. Louis to focus on elementary education. While there in 1964, she became a citizen of the United States. She received her bachelor of education degree in 1971. Afterward she taught for 24 years. These included Holy Childhood School in Mascoutah for one year, Our Lady Queen of Peace in Belleville for 20 years and St. John the Baptist in Smithton for four years.
In 1992 she began her work of community service at the convent in Belleville. She also volunteered with Hospice of Southern Illinois, where she visited and brought Eucharist to the homebound. She continued that work until she moved to Mount Saint Joseph in 2007. While at the Mount, she shared her wonderful personality.
Sister Mary Patrick McDonagh, 90, died December 28, 2020, at Mount Saint Joseph in her 68th year in religious life. The funeral Mass was at 10:30 a.m. Monday, January 4, 2021. Burial was in the convent cemetery.