March 2025
Sr Mairead Quigley rscj
Sarum is mourning a former chaplain at the College, Sr Mairead Quiqley rscj, who died last month.
“Mairead was very much part of the community here at Sarum College when I arrived in the late summer of 2015,” says James Woodward, Sarum College Principal. “She was welcoming and kind – and aware, I think, of some of the challenges that anyone might face moving home and work base. She was a much-respected pastoral presence in the place and went about her work skilfully, without any fuss and much of it hidden and private. I could see that she was a person of some substance and life experience. I came to love her inscrutable face together with a very wicked sense of humour. She had a turn of phrase which was always memorable but probably not repeatable in this context!
“I came to rely on her counsel. She was pragmatic, insightful and always managed to put things into a broader and deeper perspective. I know that she had an important shaping effect on many generations of students.
Sr Mairead (centre) at Sarum’s Christmas lunch with Ann Philp and James Woodward.
“In these early years she lodged in Salisbury Cathedral Close with the late Revd Ann Philp. They were quite a force. I think they came to rely on each other for encouragement and support though they had a wonderful way of keeping each other grounded. ‘Don’t make my gin so strong’ was a regular cry from Mairead. Ann was often perplexed about why such a well-organised religious sister was so untidy. ‘For a Roman Catholic,’ Ann used to say, ‘she does seem to hoard copies of the Church of England Church Times.’ Their shared influence on Sarum was significant.
“Moving away from Salisbury was not easy but Mairead took direction from her superiors with grace and pragmatism. She kept her counsel. She never lost her sense of humour and those quiet piercing eyes saw a very great deal indeed.
“We remember her with fond affection. May her memory be a blessing and her soul rest in peace and rise in glory.”
Mairead’s funeral will be held on Tuesday, 18 March at 11 am at Duchesne House, Aubyn Square, Roehampton, London SW15 5ND. This will be followed by cremation and a light lunch at Duchesne House afterwards.
To attend the funeral in person, or for access to the livestreamed funeral Mass, please contact Sr Marianne Tavares mariannetavares@hotmail.com.
Requiescat in pace. May she rise in well earned glory.