Mary Barr Mackinlay

Mary Barr Mackinlay (28 August 1910 – 13 November 1974), later known as Sister Alphonse Marie, was an Australian Dominican sister who spent many years teaching.

Life
Mackinlay was born in Temora in 1910. Her parents lived at Pucawan. Her parents, Ellen Theresa (born Duffy) and John Barr Mackinlay who was a farmer, were both born in Australia. She was the third of their five children, although she also had two adopted siblings. She said she was taught well at the local one-teacher school.

She went on to study at Santa Sabina Dominican Convent School, where she was taught by Sister Mary Anhelm who was another enthusiast for learning. She supported her idea of studying English Literature. Mackinlay was a school sportswoman who also passed four other A levels but it was in English that she was the best in the state.

The Sancta Sophia College of the University of Sydney opened in 1926 as the first for Catholic women. Mackinlay began her studies there in 1930 and she graduated in 1933. She converted that into a first-class master's degree in 1935 although she was already a novice at the Dominican Roman Catholic Convent in Maitland. In fact she had taught at the convent's school from 1934. Her thesis was on Mysticism in Modern English Poetry.

In 1963, she joined the Dominican Congregation's provincial council and she was also their provincial director of studies. She held this position until 1969.

Mackinlay died in 1974 after a severe stroke in the Sydney suburb of Lewisham.