Sheila O'Leary to get rare Vatican accolade for service at St Finbarr’s Oratory in Gougane Barra

For more than 40 years she cared for a legendary Co Cork church.

Now, the Vatican has presented a rare accolade — the female equivalent of a Knighthood — to ‘the boss of Gougane Barra’.

Countless bishops, priests and wedding couples became close friends of Sheila O’Leary during her years of service to the tiny, but picturesque, St Finbarr’s Oratory.