A plaque has been unveiled in Tarbert, Co Kerry to local woman Bridie Wren, who after working as a local nurse went on to become a member of parliament in Pakistan.
A ceremony to unveil the plaque heard she bettered the lives of the people in her chosen homeland and probably sowed the seeds for what is now a growing relationship between Pakistan and Ireland.
Bridie Wren, also known as Jennifer Musa Qazi and 'Mummy Jennifer' in Pakistan, was born in Tarmons, Tarbert, in 1917.
She became the first female member of parliament for her province in Pakistan in 1970.
Thousands attended her funeral in her native province in Pakistan in January 2008.
The ceremony was attended by Ambassador to Ireland Aisha Farooqui, Mayor of Kerry Breandán Fitzgerald, Minister for Education Norma Foley, former arts minister Jimmy Deenihan and senior officers from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
It heard that an Irish embassy in Islamabad is to open in the coming months.
The Pakistan ambassador to Ireland said Bridie Wren had improved the lives of scores of people in her chosen homeland in Pishin, Balochistan in Pakistan.
"Ms Qazi’s journey as a woman of compassion and service began long before she stepped onto our soil," Ms Farooqui said.
"Hailing from Tarbet and a nurse by profession, she was driven by a passion to serve humanity which transcended borders," she said, adding that her deep empathy and relentless drive brought hope to many people in Pishin.
"In the past decades, the connection between Pakistan and Ireland has grown due to the presence of the growing Pakistani diaspora in Ireland, especially doctors who have diligently contributed to the Irish healthcare system. A tradition that perhaps began with Mrs Qazi’s work in Pishin in a symbolic way," Ms Fooqui said.
Large numbers of Bridie Wren’s relatives, as well as her family from Pakistan, attended the ceremony in the main square in the Shannon estuary port town.
Her son, senior diplomat Jangir Qazi - who was envoy to the US, India and China - sent a video message.
Tarbert Historical and Heritage Society chairman Patrick Lynch outlined how Bridie Wren was one of ten children.
She emigrated to England to study nursing and met and married Qazi Muhammad Musa, the eldest son of the Khan of the Qualat District in Balochistan, in what became Pakistan.
The couple settled in Balochistan in 1947 and had one son. When her husband was killed in a road traffic accident in 1956, she decided to stay and rear their 14-year-old son.
