The Hands that Built Asia
Despite the vast distance and cultural differences between Ireland and Asia, some of Ireland's most adventurous people left a lasting impact on the continent. These men and women led movements like the Suffragettes, wrote India's National Anthem, built schools and universities, reshaped China's economy, and became trusted figures across Asia. Hailing from places like Roscommon, Tyrone, and Armagh, their legacies live on in street names, schools, and shrines. Today, Irish influence continues in business and industry in the Far East. Noel Murphy travels to Asia for this series to follow the footsteps of these people.
‘Mother of the People’ Sister Nivedita became known in India as ‘The Mother of the People’ and she gave her life to helping and educating the people, especially the women of that vast country. She came originally from Dungannon in Tyrone where she was born Margaret Nobel and grew up to become a notable educator among the intellectuals of London. She was inspired to follow a guru to India where she left her former life behind and began living up to her new name, ‘Sister Nivedita’, ‘the dedicated one’. She organized women’s teaching, led in the movement towards India’s freedom, wrote ferociously, engaged in intellectual debates driving new ideas forward and threw herself into helping the poorest of Calcutta and wider regions. High on the tea hills of Darjeeling, looking upwards on Mt Everest is the shrine close to where she died and was cremated. Schools, Universities and bridges carry her name and she is remembered in poetry and on a national postage stamp.
