Frances Moloney

Lady Frances Isabella Sophia Mary Moloney (née Lewis; 18 April 1873 – 15 August 1959) was an Irish socialite who in widowhood co-founded the Missionary Sisters of St. Columban and became a nun, taking the religious name Sister Mary Patrick.

Early life and education Moloney was born in Marylebone, London, the daughter of Henry Owen Lewis, a Catholic landowner and MP. She attended the Sacred Heart Convent school in Hove. She married Cornelius Alfred Moloney, a colonial governor in the British West Indies. When he retired she worked on the society page of London magazines.

Religious life and mission work in China After her husband's 1913 death in Italy, Moloney had an audience with the Pope, and contemplated religious life.

Moloney trained in midwifery, tropical medicine, and nursing to prepare for her missionary calling. She served in China from 1926 to 1936. She was based in Hanyang and Sientaochen, providing preventive care including vaccinations and public health services during epidemics, and treating survivors after the disastrous 1931 floods along the Yangtze River. Later, she was recalled to Ireland, Her story was recalled when the Missionary Sisters of St. Columban marked their 100th anniversary in 2024.