Sister Kate - Kate O'Hanlon

Kate O'Hanlon spent sixteen years as sister in charge of A & E at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast during the most violent period of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. She helped treat the victims of bombings, shootings and punishment attacks such as the Malvern Street shootings of 1966, the loyalist bomb attack on McGurk's Bar, the IRA bombing of the Abercorn Restaurant, the car-bombing in Donegall Street which saw 150 casualties arrive, and Bloody Friday. Gun battles occasionally spread into the grounds of the hospital, and Kate would find herself ordering police and soldiers out, while stopping crowds of people from forcing their way inside, afterwards sharing a brandy with her shaken colleagues. Through it all, she held her team together with warmth, compassion, humour, and an indomitable spirit - this is her story.