Edelweiss “Edel” Mary Quinn was born on 14 September 1907 near Kanturk, County Cork, Ireland, as the eldest of five children in a family that moved often because of her father’s work with the bank. She was baptized “Edelweiss” (later shortened to Edel) after a misunderstanding at the font, and grew up lively, intelligent, and spiritually inclined. As a young woman she desired to enter religious life, but was prevented by advanced tuberculosis, which eventually confined her to a sanatorium for eighteen months.

At age twenty, Edel joined the Legion of Mary in Dublin and threw herself into apostolic work, especially among the poor, the sick, and those on the margins. In 1936, despite fragile health, she accepted appointment as Envoy of the Legion of Mary to East and Central Africa. From a base in Nairobi, she traversed vast territories—including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mauritius—establishing hundreds of Legion praesidia and higher councils, often under harsh physical conditions, language barriers, and travel difficulties.

Throughout her missionary work, Edel combined radiant joy, firm trust in Mary, and unshakable faith in God with tireless service, even as her tuberculosis steadily worsened. In 1943 her health declined sharply, yet she continued to guide her mission by correspondence and counsel. She died on 12 May 1944 in Nairobi, and her cause for sainthood was opened in 1957.