A nun who has been a missionary for 35 years was presented with the Tipperary Pence Convention Award in Tipperary yesterday.
Sister Ethel Normoyle, from Lissycasey, Co Clare, was honoured for her seven years of "outstanding contribution" to community development in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
A member of the Little Company of Mary order, she has established a clinic, a soup kitchen and a pre-school, catering for up to 30,000 people who live in a shanty town.
Sister Ethel was mentioned by Queen Elizabeth, whom she had met during a visit to South Africa, in her Christmas Day address last year.
