Death of Dr Davis (102) marks the end of an era

ONE of the first NHS doctors in Omagh after its creation more than 70 years ago has died at the age of 102.

The funeral of Dr Catherine Davis (nee Power), from Knocksilla Park, will take place in St Mary’s Church, Killyclogher today (Thursday). She died on November 30 and would have celebrated her 103rd birthday later this month.

Her passing marks the end of an era for local medical professionals.

Catherine Power was born near the seaside village of Dunmore East in Co Waterford on December 18, 1918. The youngest of five children to Patrick and Catherine Power, Kitty, as she was widely known, was initially educated at the local National School which she began in 1923. Her studies then continued at the Convent of Ferrybank in Waterford City.

She qualified in medicine from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin in 1948, completing an internship at Jervis Street General Hospital in the city. Following this, she studied psychiatric medicine, before gaining employment at Grangegorman Hospital.

For a period of time she was a medical officer at St Senan’s Hospital in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, which was coincidentally the birthplace of her future husband, Walter.

Her move north came in 1951 when nurses, doctors and other medical staff were arriving here to work in the then newly-established and growing National Health Service (NHS).

After a short period in a GP practice in Limavady, she began working in the Tyrone County Hospital. It was here that she met her future husband. They were married on May 3, 1952 at the Church of St Andrew in Dublin.

They subsequently settled in Omagh, rearing their two children, Norman and Mary.

As was often the practice at the time, Dr Davis ceased working to look after her children. But in the 1960s she resumed practising as a psychiatric doctor in the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital.

Following her retirement in the late 1970s, she was a familiar figure around the town. Her hobbies included gardening and walking, and regular bus trips to Dublin continued until she was in her nineties.

She was devoted to her three grandchildren, Sarah, Claire and Cathy, who remember well her talent for baking brown bread.

A regular Massgoer at St Mary’s in Killyclogher, she had a special devotion to St Therese of Lisieux, ‘The Little Flower’ and a highlight was travelling to Dublin in 2001 on pilgrimage to see the relics of the saint. Dr Catherine Davis was pre-deceased by her husband in 2009.

She is survived by her children, Norman and Mary, daughter-in-law Aileen, grand-daughters Sarah, Claire and Cathy and great grandchildren Katie, David and Riley, nephews, nieces and sister-in-law, Helen.