Dr. Pat O’Donovan is a member of the Congregation of Sisters of Mercy. She is a graduate of Carysfort College of Education, University College Cork and Maynooth University. Sr. Pat was a teacher in Waterford during her early years as a Sister of Mercy. She also served for six years in a leadership role in the Mercy Congregation.
Sr. Pat received her Doctor of Ministry Degree (D. Min.) in Chicago having studied at the University of Chicago School of Divinity and at the Catholic Theological Union. Prior to that she earned a Masters in Divinity and a Masters in Spirituality at Gonzaga University in Spokane Washington. She has a Masters in Ethics from Dublin City University. She is a Board Certified Healthcare Chaplain with the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (USA) and with the multi-faith Association of Professional Chaplains (USA). She is also a Board Certified Chaplain Educator.
Sr. Pat was Co-Director of the Spirituality and Pastoral programmes at St. John’s College in Waterford prior to moving full-time into the healthcare arena. She worked initially as chaplain intern with Resurrection Health System and then as a chaplain resident with Advocate Health System in Chicago. She then moved on to being clinical pastoral education resident at the University of Chicago Medical Centre. She subsequently became the Director of Clinical Pastoral Education at Roper St. Francis Health System in Charleston, South Carolina. When she returned to Ireland in 2005 she was a chaplain with the Bon Secours Healthcare system for a brief period before being appointed Director of the Clinical Pastoral Education programme at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin.
Since her retirement from St. Vincent’s, Sr. Pat has been the Health Reference person, first for The Conference of Religious (CORI) and for the recently established Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (AMRI).
Sr. Pat is a member of the Council for Healthcare of the Irish Bishops Conference. She is also a member of the Healthcare Chaplaincy Board. She is a representative of the Council for Healthcare on the HSE Multi-Faith Chaplaincy Advisory Council. And she currently serves on the boards of Mercy Care South and of St. John of God Hospitaller Ministries