Carol Morrissey: ‘Doyenne’ of St Malachy’s

On 26 January this year, Rylstone resident Carol Morrisey was voted ‘Citizen of the Year’ for the Mid-Western Region – being preferred over eleven other distinguished nominees. She is also the ‘face’ of St Malachy’s Catholic Church in Rylstone, which celebrates its Sesquicentenary (150 years) in December this year.

The word ‘doyenne’ refers to a leading authority, and is often used to describe someone with long-standing expertise in a wide range of skills. Yet it is hard to extract from Mrs Morrissey a single word about just why she is so highly regarded by the Mid-Western community at large and the congregation of Rylstone’s Catholic Church in particular.

Is it her work as President of the Kandos and Rylstone St Vincent de Paul Society? Organising the Dawn Service with her husband Kerry on ANZAC Day? Or the myriad other charitable works of which she is the heart and soul?

There are so many good causes to support, I have never had to go looking for them, ‘says this amiable Christian lady. ‘They seem to find me and I simply cannot refuse’.

Carol was born in Rylstone and educated in Kandos; she worked as a waitress upon leaving school and then spent five years at the Loneragan Emporium. She then worked in a pharmacy for some time and was even a catechist teacher at Rylstone Public School. At the age of sixteen she met the love of her life Kerry, and became a Catholic under the tutelage of Fr Jeremiah Foley. Carol and Kerry have been married for 59 years and they have an adoring assembly of four children and twelve grandchildren who cherish them.

So, among the host of communal activities Carol is engaged upon, what is this Citizen of the Year 2026’s favourite duty? Unhesitatingly, she replies: ‘Being able to arrange the flowers at church, and as President of the St Vincent de Paul Society’ - which she has been doing now for over forty years. However, this year has a special significance for Carol – and indeed for all the Catholics of Rylstone, for it will be the 150th Anniversary of this gorgeous little stone church of St Malachy, which is such a large tourist attraction to the town and there will be plenty to do in the lead-up to the Sesquicentenary Celebrations on 5-6 December!