For her activism she was called "the Joan of Arc of British prisons" by Paddy Hill and awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice cross by pope John Paul II.
Her half-sister Kathleen Hennelly (née Clarke) was sent to live with her aunt and uncle in Redmount whilst Sarah was raised with her brother Michael.
Possibly influenced by the 1932 Eucharistic Congress held in Ireland, Clarke claimed that half of her class ended up entering convents.
In September 1939, she entered the Sainte Union convent at Killashee, County Kildare, taking the name of Sr Mary Auxilius.
She transferred to England in 1957, at her request, teaching at Sainte Union convents at Southampton, at Herne Bay, Kent, and Highgate, London.
[1][2] Clarke rose in prominence due to her work leading the campaigns to clear the names of the Birmingham Six, the Guildford Four and Maguire Seven in the late 1970s.
Her requiem mass on 11 February was attended by Daithi Ó Ceallaigh, Irish ambassador to Britain, three MPs, and mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.
Her remains were returned to Ireland, with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Albert Reynolds, and Paul Hill being part of the crowd which met her coffin at the airport mortuary.