Sister Katherine Butler (27 May 1914 – 8 August 2000) was an Irish nun with the Religious Sisters of Charity, teacher, writer, and aviator. Butler was one of the first women to get a pilot's licence in Ireland.

Early life

Born Katherine Bayley Butler, she was the eldest of two daughters of

James Bayley Butler James Bayley Butler MBE MRIA (8 April 1884 – 21 February 1964) was an Irish biologist and academic, and was considered the foremost expert on the fungus which causes dry rot. Life James Bayley Butler was born in Secunderabad, India, on 8 ...

and Katherine Butler (née McWeeney). Both she and her sister

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attended Alexandra College, Dublin, and later the Ursuline convent,

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. Butler had decided to take up a religious vocation from age 17, but was persuaded to wait until she was 21 by her parents. She used this time to undertake a degree in science at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

Aviation

Butler had become interested in aviation after seeing Sir Alan Cobham's Air Circus in the early 1930s, and so began to take flying lessons at Kildonan Aerodrome, with pilots such as John Currie. On 15 January 1936 she became the third woman in Ireland to receive a pilot's licence. She entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Charity in Milltown, Dublin five days later, on 20 January. She was given the name Sr Mary Alphonsus, though later reverted to Katherine Butler, remarking that "there were no nuns with double-barrel names."

Educational career and later life

Having finished her novitiate, Butler graduated as a teacher in 1938 and spent many years in the profession. Butler spent time in England teaching during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and later studied in Rome in the late 1960s. Butler taught at the order's secondary school in Mountjoy Street, Dublin, later helping to found new secondary schools in Foxford, County Mayo, serving as principal, and Walkinstown, Dublin. She last taught in the order's Marymount school in Harold's Cross, before moving to the order's Crumlin convent in 1977. Whilst in Crumlin, Butler began an outreach programme, conducting home visits with her pupils. In 1953 she published a biography of Mother

Mary Aikenhead Mother Mary Frances Aikenhead (19 January 1787 – 22 July 1858) was born in Daunt's Square off Grand Parade, Cork, Ireland. Described as one of nursing's greatest leaders, she was the founder of the Catholic religious institute, the Relig ...

, foundress of the Sisters of Charity, ''A Candle Was Lit''. Following this publication, Butler referred to the "apostolate of the pen" and wrote a prodigious number of letters to lonely people, prisoners, and occasionally to the national newspapers. She also wrote for magazines and periodicals, with a particular interest in the area of

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

. This interest led her to attend services of other denominations including

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

, and

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

. Butler was an active member of the

Old Dublin Society The Old Dublin Society ( ga, Cumann Seandacht Átha Cliath) was founded in 1934. Its mission is to promote the history of Dublin and its citizens. Membership Membership of the society is open to everyone interested in the history of Dublin and ...

, and wrote for their journal the ''

Dublin Historical Record The ''Dublin Historical Record'' is a history journal established in 1938 and published biannually by the Old Dublin Society. Its focus is on the History of Dublin and it is considered to be a "learned journal An academic journal or scholarly j ...

'', winning the Society's annual award for best paper three times. Butler died on 8 August 2000 in Crumlin. She attained special permission from her order to donate her body to the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

for use in medical research.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Katherine 1914 births 2000 deaths People educated at Alexandra College Alumni of University College Dublin Nuns from Dublin (city) Irish women aviators 20th-century Irish nuns Aviators from Dublin (city)