Eve always wanted to study biomedical science.
However, her Irish Catholic background posed problems in Dublin as she wished to study at a Protestant institution. Undaunted, Eve eventually received special permission from Dublin’s bishop to study at Trinity College. She then joined the National Blood Transfusion Centre in Dublin as a student technician at 18.
Eve’s success in the profession raised eyebrows during the post-war period. The Irish Times received complaints because a woman had taken what was then seen as a man’s job. Undeterred, Eve continued to work within the profession, later joining the team at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin, where she worked in haematology and bacteriology.
Eve relocated to the UK to work at the Royal Free Hospital in Islington, specialising in cytology. She then got married and had two children while running a successful pub with her husband. When the family relocated to Essex, she joined St Andrew’s Hospital cytology department, where she worked until retirement, having become Head of Department.
In 1952, Eve joined the IBMS, became an IBMS Fellow 10 years later and in 2002 was awarded the IBMS’s prestigious 50 Year Medal, for continuous membership with the Institute.
Eve is fondly remembered by her children, who credit her determination and refusal to give up, as contributing hugely to their successes in life. They said: “Even 20 years after she retired, she still kept up to date with the profession, reading the monthly Biomedical Scientist magazine. She remained sharp as a tack and was a remarkable woman.”