Did you know that a Roscrea woman was one of Norway’s best-known humanitarian activists even though she remained unknown in her native Ireland?
In 2005, Shirley Bottolfsen (née Murphy) earned the King’s Medal of Merit for her activism having raised over a million euros for various charities in Norway. She was the first non-Norwegian person to be awarded the medal and in the same year, a documentary was made about her life called ‘Santa Comes from Ireland’.
Shirley was born in Roscrea but moved to Bodø, a small town inside the Arctic Circle, in 1956. Her charitable work included working for the Salvation Army, delivering food to people in need, running an annual summer lottery to raise money and most famously, she was known for standing for hours in the Glasshuset (glass house) covered section of the pedestrian precinct in central Bodø with a collection bucket.
When Mary McAleese paid a state visit to Norway back in 2008, Shirley was interviewed by Irish journalists and she quipped that ‘in Norway, I’m about as famous as Bono and Bob Geldof’.
When she passed away in 2021, there was an outpouring of grief from the people of Bodø. A square was named after her- ‘Shirley’s Place’ and a song was written in her memory- The Ballad of Shirley Bottolfsen- which can be viewed at the following link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwwkl1hqWlA
Mayor of Bodo, Ida Pinnerød, said of Bottolfsen ‘she had a big heart, and has put Bodø on the national map’.
On 30 November 2024, a statue of Shirley was unveiled in Bodø in recognition of her lifelong charity campaigning.
Lyrics of 'The Ballad of Shirley Bottolfsen'
It was a cold November day,
when in Bodø I would stray
I was busking underneath the roof of glass
When this lady came to me,
she was almost eighty three
Remarkable and colourfully dressed
She was born in Tipperary,
a Norwegian man she married
They’ve been sailing across many a countless wave
She had been all around the world,
when to Bodø she returned
For a brand-new chapter waiting at its bay
Shirley Bottolfsen has been around
Keeping an eye upon this town
Doing all she can to help the poor
May Bodø city be your home
For many years to come
May your spirit be the norm forevermore
She goes walking up and down,
on the shopping street in town
Collecting money her projects to support
And when the evening comes around,
she gathers foodstuff out in town
Brings it to the people she loves with all her heart
She helps anyone in need:
poor, sick, addicts and refugees
And though she has seen sadness and deceit
For many years now in a row,
through many highs and many lows
She’s been living life with passion and belief
Shirley Bottolfsen has been around
Keeping an eye upon this town
Doing all she can to help the poor
May Bodø city be your home
For many years to come
May your spirit be the norm forevermore
And the smiles that she brought,
upon the faces that she loved
Will stick with me until my final days
And I hope the trail I’ll tread,
will make me say just like she said
“My life has been sublime, I lived it my way.”
Shirley Bottolfsen has been around
Keeping an eye upon this town
Doing all she can to help the poor
May Bodø city be your home
For many years to come
May your spirit be the norm forevermore
Sources:
Irish Independent, 15/10/2008, p6
https://www.tipperarylive.ie/news/local-news/712465/tributes-paid-to-tipperary-woman-who-passes-away-in-norway.html
https://www.nrk.no/nordland/shirley-bottolfsen-er-dod-1.15785656
