Eileen Maud Gray, who died on August 27th aged 86, came to Ireland in 1950 to take up one of the most prestigious posts in nursing - assistant matron at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin.
The quality of the Rotunda's nurses and its research was renowned throughout the world and especially in Britain. But if the hospital had a superb reputation, it is clear Eileen Gray had exceptional qualities both as a nurse and midwife and these were recognised with her appointment as assistant matron at the age of 35.
But if the Rotunda to which she arrived in 1950 was one of the world's leading maternity hospitals, it still had many practices firmly entrenched in the past.
There were still open fires in the wards and it was the duty of nurses to collect the coal and keep fires going.
In addition, she discovered that student midwives had to peel potatoes and perform other tasks in the kitchen.
Eileen Gray set about making changes. She had central heating installed in the wards and brought to an end the practice of student nurses working in the kitchens.
Such changes were not easily accomplished. The cost of installing central heating would have weighed heavily on the Rotunda at the time.
Indeed money was so scarce that there were no funds for the continuing education of midwives after they had qualified. However, Eileen Gray had a strong belief in the importance of further education and training for which she raised the necessary funds. On occasions she herself lectured in the classroom.
She was also unhappy at the "upstairs downstairs" approach to dining facilities at the hospital: there were separate dining rooms for doctors, senior nurses and junior nurses. She threw her weight behind those who wanted a common dining room, but it took a long time to achieve - it was opened only shortly after she retired in 1980.
After she became matron of the Rotunda in 1970, she was appointed to An Bord Altranais, where she also worked tirelessly for improvements in education and training facilities for nurses and midwives.
As matron she had an extraordinary range of duties. Not only was she in charge of the nursing staff, but also of maintenance, stores, and other related administrative areas.
It is not surprising that quite frequently she had to work 12 and 13-hour days. She did this despite poor health. She suffered from asthma and high blood pressure throughout her career.
Eileen Gray was closely involved in moves to set up a new neonatology department in the Rotunda. The development arose from the opportunities presented by new technology and the appointment of medical specialists in neonatology. This brought with it a need to train midwives as specialists in that discipline.
She also played a leading role in setting up a 30-bed mother and child annex in the 1970s at Whitworth Road (closed in the late 1980s), a task akin to that of setting up a small hospital.
Given her workload and health problems Eileen Gray could have been forgiven if she had been an irritable matron - but she wasn't. Instead she is remembered as very gentle and caring with a ready smile.
Following her retirement in 1980 she continued her involvement with the Rotunda and was on its Samaritans committee which raised funds for women living in poverty.
Eileen Gray was born at Hove, outside Brighton, on March 6th, 1915, the youngest of two children. Her mother, Emily Bothing, died when she was very young and her father, James Rendel Gray, a police inspector, brought the children to live with an aunt in Newcastle in England.
She began her training as a nurse in Acton General Hospital when she was 18. Her training and early career took her to Hillingdon, Charing Cross, Leeds and Oxford hospitals.
Outside nursing Eileen Gray's interests were history and reading. Her retirement, however, was blighted by osteoporosis which brought her a lot of pain and discomfort.
Following her retirement she lived with the Dawson family in Lucan, Co Dublin. She had known Mrs Ann Dawson from their schooldays.
She is survived by her brother James Rendel.
Eileen Maud Gray: born 1915; died, August 2001