Julia Canny, 1894–1987, was an Irish Sister of the Holy Souls who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Canny emigrated to the US in 1921, joining the Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls in New York in 1933.
After Pearl Harbor, she was interned on the presumption of being an American, but released after six months when it was demonstrated by the Swiss ambassador that she was an Irish citizen.
[2] On 6 August 1945, Canny had been sitting outside the Sisters of the Holy Souls convent when the atomic bomb was dropped.
[3][2] Other than Aidan MacCarthy, Canny was one of the few Irish citizens to witness the detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb to be used in warfare.