[3][5][6] Her family homes included Larch Hill, Tibradden, and Venetian Hall, Howth Road (both in Dublin, and both Georgian mansions have since been demolished).

Her paternal grandfather William Coffey was Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1909 to 1910, an Alderman, High Sheriff and ex-officio Privy Councillor.

[4][5] Her younger sister Dr. Pauline (married names Keating and Mansell) also became a doctor, chief medical officer in the south of England, and won prestigious awards from the Meath Hospital and Royal College of Surgeons.

Louis Coffey O.P., Provincial of the Dominican Order in Ireland and founder of the moving crib[12][13] exhibition in Dublin, and the St. Martin de Porres magazine) was associated.

[7][16] She developed strong qualities of leadership, responsibility, and pugnacious personality by working with men such as Tom Lane, Henry Stokes and Oliver St. John Gogarty at Meath Hospital,[15] the cradle of the Dublin School of Medicine, where she was a student and house officer.

[15] Shortly afterwards, she was appointed as a medical officer in St Kevin's Hospital[8][15] due to her knowledge of obstetrics.

[7] At St. Kevin's Hospital, Coffey became interested in the neglected field of congenital birth defects[15] and began a publishing career.

[4][18] On International Women's Day in 2018, Coffey was honoured for her outstanding contribution to medicine and was chosen to be part of "Women on Walls", an arts project hosted by RCSI in partnership with Accenture, with her portrait displayed in the RCSI's principal boardroom.