A hugely popular presence in Belfast for more than 30 years, a Cork-born nun has told of her "great sadness" as she prepares to say goodbye.
And the departure of Sr Consilia Dennehy next week will also mark the end of an era for the Bon Secours sisters after 143 years of service to the city.
She may initially have trained in hotel management, but at the age of 21 Sr Consilia found her true calling when she entered the order.
The compassion of the sisters as they went about their work nursing the sick and dying had earned them an international reputation since the time of their establishment in Paris in 1824.
In the 1860s, the community arrived in Dublin. Soon a request for help was also received from Bishop of Down and Connor and in 1872 four nuns travelled to Belfast and set up home in Alfred Street in the city centre.
Before long they moved to west Belfast and dedicated themselves to caring for those in need.
The sisters nursed people at home for the next 80 years until the creation of the NHS and the increase in hospital-based care led them to reconsider how best to use their skills.
The resilient nuns converted their Falls Road base into a nursing home and continued their work in a different setting until 1975, when a bomb so badly damaged the property that patients had to be moved.
At that point some of the older sisters retired and the order downsized to a bungalow in Andersonstown where they went back to the drawing board to determine a new purpose in the community.
It was then that the charismatic Sr Consilia Dennehy was sent north, arriving in a city torn apart by civil unrest and sectarian violence.
She began ministering to the needs of the community as a parish sister in St Agnes's, though her work also included pastoral visits to republican prisoners in the Maze during the hunger strikes.
In 2012, she was still present in Belfast to mark the 140th anniversary of the Bon Secours in the city.
Three years on, however, Sr Consilia is preparing to leave and her departure will also mark the end of order's presence in Belfast after 143 years.
Sr Consilia said she felt "great sadness" about her imminent departure, 34 years after she first began her work in the north.
"I have recognised that the time has come for me to leave Belfast and return to the Bon Secours community in Cork," she said.
"I want to take the opportunity now to express my profound gratitude to the people of west Belfast and beyond for the welcome you gave me when I first arrived 34 years ago and all the friendships I have made in the many years since.
"Little did I know what lay ahead of me in those dark days of 1981 when I first joined the parish team at St Agnes church."
The hugely popular nun said she had "experienced the privilege of ministering to the families of St Agnes, the prisoners in Long Kesh, and the families and catechists involved in Spred (special religious education with people with learning difficulties), and in turn you have been the presence of Christ for me.
"I worked alongside my fellow Bon Secours sisters and wonderful clergy including Fr Tom Toner and Fr Sean McCartney, and the late Fr Denvir.
"I was welcomed into the homes and hearts of many people in west Belfast throughout the years of conflict and in return I have welcomed you into my heart and home".
She added: "My departure will mean the end of our ministry here. Of course, I feel great sadness but I also can celebrate the many signs of new growth and flourishing in this community and city".
A Mass of thanksgiving for the 143 years of the Bon Secours in Belfast will take place at 10am next Monday at St Agnes Church.
