By Park Jae-hyuk







Sister Miriam Cousins, an Irish nun who dedicated her life to helping prostitutes and HIV patients in Korea, died Aug. 17, according to the Missionary Society of Saint Columban.







The nun, who is also known by her Korean name, Go Myeong-eun, was 79.







She reportedly died while undergoing intestinal surgery at a local hospital.







The funeral mass was held at St. Mary's Hospital Funeral Home in Seoul, Tuesday, and she was buried at Resurrection Parish Memorial in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.







"Sister Miriam passed away at 11 p.m., Aug. 17," the missionary society wrote on its website. "Please remember her beautiful life filled with love, and please pray for her to rest in peace."







Born in Galway, Ireland, she came to Korea in 1971 as a member of the missionary society.







As a licensed nurse and nurse-midwife, Miriam initially served as a nurse for underprivileged patients and pregnant women at hospitals in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, and Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, as well as on Jeju Island.







In 1989, she set up a hostel near a red-light district in northern Seoul to minister to prostitutes working in the so-called "Miari Texas" area.







After meeting a prostitute who was infected with HIV, the nun established the country's first HIV patient support center in 1997.







She devoted herself to improving the country's awareness of HIV patients and AIDS.







She also held funerals for HIV patients without families or friends.







In 2015, she was awarded by Caritas Korea for her devotion to HIV patients.

