Catherine Norah Egan, pictured far right, with friends, circa early 1940s. Catherine Norah Egan, pictured far right, with friends, circa early 1940s.
Catherine Norah “Norrie” Egan
My mother, Norrie Egan, born in Dublin, graduated from St. Vincent’s Hospital/UCD with a Diploma in Radiography in 1940 and worked at St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London during WWII. She was injured during an air raid – not from a bomb – she was cycling her bicycle to work when she was hit by a cab. Though it was wartime, she loved her job and being in London. She had many stories about the war, one being that because she spoke French, she was sent to meet the injured soldiers, French and English, who were brought to England after the Battle of Dunkirk. Another story was of working with St. Mary’s alumnus Sir Alexander Fleming who won the Nobel Prize in 1945 for his discovery of penicillin. He was conducting a trial using penicillin on returning army vets who h