One Drunk to Another Your Size in Pajamas
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Illustration · An imagined linen cupboard on a hospital corridor at night, its shelves stacked with folded pajamas by size. Not drawn from a photograph.

Your Size in Pajamas

Meet Sister Ignatia

A farm girl from County Mayo, a Cleveland music teacher, a nun at a hospital admitting desk, and a friend to thousands of drunks.

“But don’t forget, should you ever need our services again, we still have your size in pajamas.”

Sister Ignatia, to a man back to tell her he had ten years sober · Dr. Bob and the Good Oldtimers, 1980

Sister Ignatia was born Della Gavin in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1889, and grew up in Cleveland. She taught music, joined the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine in 1914, and after a breakdown was given quieter work in the admitting office of St. Thomas Hospital in Akron.

There, in August 1939, she found a bed for an alcoholic patient of Dr. Bob, though most hospitals then turned drunks away. Together they built a ward that took in thousands of alcoholics before Dr. Bob died. When her order moved her to Cleveland in 1952, AA members rebuilt an old wing of St. Vincent Charity Hospital for her, and she named it Rosary Hall.

The newspapers were calling her the Angel of Alcoholics Anonymous by 1949, yet she kept her name off the St. Thomas plaque and turned down most honors. Bill W., for her golden jubilee, called her “the finest friend and the greatest spirit we may ever know.”

This is her story in seven parts, from a farm in Mayo to a crowded cathedral in Cleveland. It’s built from Mary C. Darrah’s 1992 biography, AA’s own histories and Bill W.’s articles in the AA Grapevine; where they disagree, these pages say so.

Start with 1 · Lessons at home

Her life at a glance

  1. 1889Born Della Mary Gavin in County Mayo, Ireland, in January.
  2. 1896Her family settles in Cleveland.
  3. 1914Enters the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine on March 25, and takes the name Sister Mary Ignatia in June.
  4. 1927A breakdown ends her teaching of music.
  5. 1928Goes to St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, by her biographer’s date and AA’s 1980 history. Bill W. put it in 1933, an encyclopedia in 1934.
  6. 1939In August, takes in Dr. Bob’s first alcoholic patient at St. Thomas.
  7. 1949Accepts the Poverello Medal on AA’s behalf.
  8. 1950Dr. Bob dies on November 16.
  9. 1952Is sent to St. Vincent Charity Hospital in Cleveland. Rosary Hall opens in December.
  10. 1964Bill W. brings her a scroll for her fiftieth year in the order.
  11. 1965Retires to the motherhouse in May.
  12. 1966Dies on April 1, at seventy-seven.

Walk through her story

Each part has a short story, a one-minute audio stop, and a closer look for anyone who wants to go deeper. Read them in order, or start anywhere.

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