A Cork-born Franciscan nun who was murdered in the US was described by friends in Cork yesterday as a "quiet lady" who had a sense of vocation from a very early age.
The decapitated body of Sister Philomena Fogarty (68), from Glasheen, in the south side of Cork city, was found on a beach in Norfolk, Virginia, on Wednesday morning.
Residents of Hamilton, Georgia, where Sister Philomena lived, described her as a saint who fed the hungry, counselled inmates and sold clothes to pay for pensioners' utility bills. Hamilton is a rural community of 450 people, 90 miles south of Atlanta.
In Cork yesterday, an Ursuline Convent nun, Sister Kathleen Twomey, said she had fond memories of working alongside Philomena Fogarty during her time as a missionary in Georgia in the 1970s.
"Philomena Fogarty was a good many years in Georgia. She was a great worker. She did a lot for people out there. Philomena practically ran the parish. She was great. It is terrible news. I had heard she had been kidnapped and now this."
Sister Philomena and her two sisters were educated at St Aloysius School near Cork city centre. The late nun completed her Leaving Cert in 1952.
Mr John Healy, a neighbour of Sister Philomena's in Croaghta Park, Glasheen, said she frequently returned to Ireland when she began her work as a missionary in Japan.
"She was always very nice. A real sociable person but quiet at the same time. She was in Japan for years and then she went to the US. She was back a couple of times but the family moved and we lost track of her. It is very sad - she was a lovely person growing up."
Sister Philomena is survived by her sister, Ms Marjorie Buckley, who lives in Bishopstown, Cork, and a second sibling, Ms Therese Fogarty, from Galway. It is expected her body will be flown back to Cork city for burial.
Police in Virginia arrested a 25-year-old man suspected of killing the nun. Adrian O'Neill Robinson was arrested at a Norfolk fast-food restaurant. Officers had been hunting for him since Sunday, when he allegedly killed his father, Henry (56). Relatives said Robinson shot his father 16 times at the family home in Hamilton, Georgia. He is then alleged to have abducted Sister Philomena and another nun, Sister Lucie Kristofik (72). He intended to use their car to flee, police said.
He was spotted driving the vehicle alone early on Thursday. When police tried to stop him he abandoned the car and fled into marshes. Officers said human remains were found in the vehicle.
About 30 minutes later, Sister Philomena's body was found in a car-park near Virginia Beach. Authorities said her body had been dismembered.
Sister Lucie had been found safe at a Norfolk motel on Tuesday. She told police Robinson had left earlier with Sister Philomena.
Sister Lucie told investigators the two women came home on Sunday to find Robinson in their home. She said he took $575 in cash, bound and gagged them, put them in their car and drove to Norfolk, 570 miles away.
"We don't know if there are any indications that he knew two old ladies would pull up or if this was a sheer crime of opportunity on his part," Mr Chris Amos, a Norfolk police spokesman, said. He said Robinson is the primary suspect in the murder. A rifle was found in the hotel room.
The Rev Ronnie Madden said the nuns lived alone in a mobile home near Christ the King Catholic Church. Both were members of the Order of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.
"Sister Philomena was a saint," he said. "She is probably one of the greatest women I have ever met in my life." She would have celebrated her 50th anniversary as a nun this year.
"She was considered the Mother Teresa of Harris County," Police Chief Dan Colberg said.
Additional reporting AP