Sarah Clarke

Sister Sarah Clarke (17 November 1919 – 4 February 2002) was an Irish nun and civil rights campaigner known for her work on prisoner's rights. She began campaigning in 1970, when she joined efforts to free Irish republican prisoners. Over the next three decades she became well known for her activism, particularly after her involvement in high-profile cases like 1973 Old Bailey bombing, the Birmingham Six or the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven.

For her activism she was called "the Joan of Arc of British prisons" by Paddy Hill and awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice cross by pope John Paul II.

Early life Sarah Clarke was born in Eyrecourt, County Galway on 17 November 1919. Her father, Michael Clarke, married her mother Brigid Clarke (née Claffey) following the death of his first wife. Her half-sister Kathleen Hennelly (née Clarke) was sent to live with her aunt and uncle in Redmount whilst Sarah was raised with her brother Michael. Clarke's father fell from a horse which led to him using a wheelchair, and later dying of tuberculosis when Clarke was 8. Clarke's mother took over the running of the farm, as well as the Clarke family shop and pub. She remarried, marrying Tim Cosgrave, a horse breeder and brother of the Galway TD, James Cosgrave. Clarke attended the St Raphael convent, Loughrea, County Galway. Possibly influenced by the 1932 Eucharistic Congress held in Ireland, Clarke claimed that half of her class ended up entering convents. In September 1939, she entered the Sainte Union convent at Killashee, County Kildare, taking the name of Sr Mary Auxilius. Thirty years later she reverted to her baptismal name when she found people struggled to pronounce it. She attended Carysfort teacher training college, Dublin in 1941, receiving a bilingual certificate in Irish and English.

Career Clarke's first job was at Our Lady's Bower school in Athlone, teaching there for 16 years. She taught art and used advanced teaching methods, but found the running of the school very strict. She transferred to England in 1957, at her request, teaching at Sainte Union convents at Southampton, at Herne Bay, Kent, and Highgate, London. After the liberalisation of the Catholic church after Vatican II, Clarke was allowed to attend Chelsea Art School, later attending Reading University to study typography and ergonomics. She was granted permission to visit Giuseppe Conlon in 1978, and was one of the last people to see him alive. On 1 July 1985, a BBC Two television programme about Clarke was broadcast. She also helped Chris Mullin and Ronan Bennett with their books on the cases. In October 1989, when the convictions of the Guildford Four were quashed, Paul Hill would only pose for The Observer newspaper's photographer if Clarke posed with him. That picture was featured on the newspaper's front page. Paddy Hill called her "the Joan of Arc of British prisons". beside her brother Michael.

She was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice cross by the pope in December 2001.

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