She was one of ten children of plumber or civil engineer, Thomas Patrick Cummins Waterfall Cottage, Richmond Road, and his wife Ellen Black.
Moving to Brussels, she taught English to the 12 children of a Belgian countess, and from 1939 she worked for the Canadian embassy as a translator.
This, along with her access to foreign diplomats, made her a valuable courier whilst also translating and smuggling weapons.
[1] In 1946 while undergoing an assessment for compensation, she met Count Guy (Gui) O'Kelly de Galway, a barrister of Irish descent.
She saw her husband depart from Dublin Airport as he travelled to England on business in 1964, after this goodbye she never saw him again and his disappearance was never solved.