Clodagh Finn: The Irish nun whose ‘escape’ divided Australia

If it were a film, the publicity might include an unlikely collection of taglines about a nun running barefoot from a convent in the dead of night, a charge of lunacy, a court case to prove the woman sane and her subsequent court case against a bishop

An illustration from the Supreme Court case taken against a bishop, claiming damages for falsely and maliciously procuring the arrest and imprisonment of Bridget Partridge. Pictures: courtesy of Jeff Kildea

When Sister Liguori, born Bridget Mary Partridge in Kildare, fled a convent in New South Wales (NSW) in her nightgown in 1920, her dramatic departure marked the beginning of an affair that divided Australia for more than a year.

Even now, more than a century later, the story of this woman who claimed that her mother superior — who was also Irish — was trying to poison her still generates headlines. Only last year, an Australian newspaper ran an article claiming that she was pregnant by a priest and had run away because she didn’t want to give up her baby for adoption.