From 1920 to 1954, hundreds of Irish men and women served as Roman Catholic missionaries in China. They worked in social, pastoral, and disaster relief services at an extraordinarily turbulent but fascinating period of Chinese history.
Millions of Chinese died and millions more were left homeless after the Yangtze River flood of 1931. Irish priests and nuns played an important role in disaster relief.
From 1920 to 1954, hundreds of Irish men and women served as Roman Catholic missionaries in China. They worked in social relief services for the public all through the Second World War and the civil war that followed.
From 1920 to 1954, hundreds of Irish men and women served as Roman Catholic missionaries in China. When the communists won the civil war in 1949, it meant there was no future for the Irish missionary priests and sisters in China.