Saturday, March 27th, 2021

In the early decades of the twentieth century many young women went to England to seek employment and in many instances the employment or profession they pursued was nursing. Today, we are going to highlight Catherine Cecilia Dillon (1919-1997) who was known as Ciss Dillon. Although born and raised in Rochestown, Glenmore, in the 1930s she went to England to train as a nurse. Molly Walsh (1905-1937) also a native of Rochestown, Glenmore and her sister Nell Walsh also went to England to train as nurses. Molly was educated at the Mercy Convent in New Ross and graduated from the Queen Anne Nursing Training of London. (See, the obituary of Mary “Molly” Walsh née Walsh on the W family page.) However, unlike most of her peers, Ciss Dillon did not remain in England, or return to Ireland, she moved to France where she remained and worked during the Second World War.

The Dillon Family of Rochestown, Glenmore

Ciss Dillon was the eldest daughter of John Dillon (1891-1955) and Catherine “Kate” Dillon née Hawe (1896-1981).

John Dillon was born on the 9^th of Feb. 1891, in New Ross, son of Michael Dillon, labourer and Kate Dillon née Fenlon. Michael Dillon married Catherine Fenlon on 16 Feb. 1885 at Templedagon, Wexford. The marriage records reveal that Michael Dillon, was from Ballynaberva, was employed as a labourer and was the son of Laurence Dillon, a farmer.  The bride, Catherine Fenlon was from Ballygalvert, and she was employed as a servant. Her father was John Fenlon, who appears to have died prior to the wedding.  

 Catherine “Kate” Dillon née Hawe was born on the 28^th of October 1896 at Rochestown, Glenmore. Kate was the only child of Patrick Hawe (1871-1933) and Mary Hawe née Merrigan (1856-1922) of Milltown, Glenmore. Patrick Hawe and Mary Merrigan were married at Glenmore on 30 October 1895. The parish records reveal that Patrick Hawe was baptized at Glenmore on the 16^th of March 1871 and he was the son of Michael Hawe and Catherine Hawe née Malone of Rochestown. His wife, Mary Hawe, née Merrigan was the daughter of Michael Merrigan, a labourer and Mary Morrissey of Milltown. As reported in a previous blog post, Patrick Hawe drowned in the River Barron in August 1933. At the time of Patrick Hawe’s death he was a widower and resided with his daughter Kate Dillon née Hawe, her husband and children. See, https://glenmore-history.com/patrick-hawe-1871-1933-of-rochestown-glenmore-the-curse-of-the-river-barrow/.

When Ciss Dillon’s parents married on 2 August 1915 her father, John Dillon, was a 24 year old fisherman living in Carrigcloney, Glenmore. Her mother, Kate Hawe was 19 years of age and living with her parents in Rochestown, Glenmore. At the time of the wedding the groom’s father, Michael Dillon, was a platelayer for the railway and the bride’s father, Patrick Hawe, was recorded as fisherman. The witnesses to the wedding were Laurence Dillon and Mollie Murphy.

Ciss Dillon was one of seven children born to John Dillon and Kate Dillon née Hawe.

(1) Patrick Dillon (1916-2003) lived in Slieverue; (2) Michael Dillon (1917-1995) lived in Slieverue; (3) Catherine Cecilia “Ciss” Dillon (1 Sept. 1919-2 May 1997); (4) Laurence “Larry” Dillon (1921-2016) lived in Wolverhampton. (5) Mary “Maureen” Dillon (1924-2002) went to England to work. She married a local chap Michael O’Neil whose mother was Bridie O’Neil née Connolly. (6) Margaret “Peggy” Dillon (1927-1995) married a man named Haberlin, and lived in Ballinlaw, Slieverue and (7) John Dillon (1934-2001).

Nursing Training Before World War II

According to Barbara Mortimer, the author of Sisters: Heroic True-Life Stories From the Nurses of World War Two (2013), nursing as a profession in Britain began developing in the mid-19^th century. Although it was one of the few professions open to respectable women it was a “pioneering career choice, but the job was accompanied by a stifling regime of disciple and service.” (p. 2) The first Nurse Registration Act was passed into law in 1919. This law established the statutory General Nursing Councils which began to organise the national education, training and regulation of nurses.

Leading up to the outbreak of war in 1939, there was a shortage of nurses. At this time there were no antibiotics and often the only course of treatment a doctor could order was rest and good nursing. As women had more choices regarding jobs, nursing was not an attractive career choice because of the way in which nurses were trained and hospitals were organised. In 1937 a committee was appointed to advise on improving recruitment. As is the case with most committees only an interim report was issued by the time war broke out.

In order to train as a nurse, a woman had to apply to a nursing school attached to a hospital where she worked as an apprentice in the wards. The best nursing schools had an organised Preliminary Training course (PTS) where she would be taught anatomy, physiology and hygiene and learn on the job skills including: bed making, damp dusting, scrubbing rubber mattress protectors called mackintoshes, filling hot water bottles, sluicing dirty linen and preparing special diets. Each student had a General Nursing Council booklet that listed the required skills and when the trainee nurses mastered a skill her book was signed by the sister tutor. At the end of this 3 year preliminary training the trainee nurse took her completed book to her final practical examination, where it was inspected (Mortimer, p. 2).

Nurses’ pay during the 3 year preliminary training was poor, the hours were long, the work hard and included exhausting domestic labour. During PTS in those years trainee nurses were entitled to a day off a month plus a half day every other Sunday. Once the PTS was completed there would be some formal lessons in a classroom, normally given by a doctor or a sister tutor. In all hospitals nursing skills were honed at the bedside where the student nurse was taught, supervise and “almost driven” by more senior nurses. Training usually took 4 years but often took 5 or more years if the trainee was ill or injured during the training period (Mortimer, p. 3).

Irish Nurses in War Torn France

Ciss Dillon told her daughter Bernie that she worked in hospitals in Nice, Lyon and Grenoble during the war. After the Nazi’s invasion in June 1940, France quickly fell and the Franco-German Armistice  of July 1940 was signed. France was divided. The Nazi’s controlled the north of the country and the Free French nominally controlled the south under the Vichy government until 1944. It is not known when Ciss Dillon worked in each of the three cities, but Nice and Grenoble during the war were primarily under Italian control. Lyon was not too far from the town of Vichy and remained under the control of the Vichy government. As the war progressed Lyon became central to the French resistance. Ciss told her daughter Bernie that a plaque was placed on one of the hospital walls as a tribute to the three Irish nurses who worked there during the war. At one point Ciss fell ill while nursing in France and the local priest wrote to her worried family in Rochestown, Glenmore regarding her illness and recovery.

How or why Ciss went to France at such a dangerous time is not known. It is not known how much French Ciss could read or speak prior to moving to France. Another Glenmore woman who spent the war working in France was Sr. Eileen Roche, of Rathinure, Glenmore. Sr. Eileen was assigned to the Good Shepherd Convent in Angers, France. It may be the case that Ciss was recruited by a religious order to go to France to nurse. It may be the case that she was recruited by an international humanitarian organisation such as the Red Cross. There is a military record for a Catherine Dillon who served with the RAF during this time, but this does not appear to be Ciss Dillon, of Rochestown, Glenmore. One contemporary article in the Catholic Standard (12 Jan. 1945) provides information regarding the Irish nursing nuns of the Bon Secour Order. It was estimated that 150 to 200 of their Order in France were Irish. The Mother General sent a message to Dublin in 1945 and noted “None of our nuns has been killed, or has died, except from natural causes.” Convents, hospitals and clinics in many areas were obliterated but the nuns continued working from the ruins. In Lorient not a stone remained in place of the convent and clinic. In Aras, their hospital was destroyed during the First World War, rebuilt and “blown to bits” during the Second World War. Both sides respected the nuns and their work. It was reported that early in the conflict the retreating Allied armies brought the nuns south in lorries away from fighting and the Germans brought them back again in more lorries to resume their work. “Both sides honoured them.”

After the War

After the war Ciss Dillon returned to England and while working at the Glenside Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Bristol, she met another employee, Robert Arthur Honeyfield (c. 1920-2015). Ciss and Bob were married in Bristol on 1st of November 1947. They raised a family and made almost yearly trips to Glenmore as reflected in the New Ross Standard. In 1988 it was reported, “FAMILY REUNION—Seven members of a family had a happy reunion last week. They are Bob Honeyfield, his wife Catherine; Maureen O’Neill and her son John and his wife Bernie, who are all home on holidays together from England. (New Ross Standard, 7 July 1988, p. 18)

Ciss Honeyfield née Dillon died on 2 May 1997. The following obituary appeared in the New Ross Standard (21 May 1997, p. 31).

DEATH OF CISS HONEYFIELD—The death took place recently after a brief illness in Bristol Hospital of Mrs. Ciss Honeyfield (nee Dillon). Funeral took place over the weekend and burial took place in Bristol Cemetery after Requiem Mass. Sincere Sympathy to her husband Bob Honeyfield, son Kevin, daughter Bernie, grandchildren, brothers Paddy Dillon Slieverue, John Dillon, Waterford, Larry Dillon, England, Sister Maureen O’Neill, sisters-in-law, son-in-law, daughters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends. She was daughter of the late John and Katie Dillon, Rochestown, Glenmore. She was predeceased by her brother Mick Dillon, Airmount, Slieverue and her sister Peggie Haberlin. The late Ciss emigrated to England about 52 years ago but never forgot the homeland as she and her husband Bob and her son and daughter spent their annual holidays in Rochestown. Members of the family travelled to Bristol for the funeral Mass and burial.

Bob Honeyfield survived Ciss by 18 years and died at the age of 94 on the 18^th of January 2015.

As we head toward the 80^th anniversary of the end of the war it is hoped that the plaque on the wall of the unknown hospital, paying tribute to her and the other Irish nurses, still survives to bear witness to their toil to save lives. Ciss Dillon belonged to the selfless generation of Irish women who nursed in France during the war to save lives amidst shortages, chaos and danger.

Special thanks to Bernie Kefford née Honeyfield for sharing the family photos and information. The featured photo above is Ciss Dillon. It is believed that the photo was taken during her time in France.

Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh

[The post was updated on 29 March 2021 with corrected and omitted dates.]

WWII Map  By Eric Gaba (Sting – fr:Sting) for original blank mapRama for zones – Own workSource of data: NGDC World Data Bank II (public domain)Image:France map Lambert-93 with regions and departments-blank.svg, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5285193