Catherine Boobbyer grew up in a home where both her parents, Peter and Fiona Hannon, had been involved with MRA / IofC all their lives. As a family they moved to Cape Town in the early seventies where Catherine spent her youth. At that stage Catherine was an active participant in and subsequently helped to organize multi-racial youth camps run by IofC. It was through both church and these camps that a deeply held Christian faith was nurtured from a young age.

After leaving South Africa Catherine completed a degree in history at Oxford University and a teaching qualification, later specializing in teaching dyslexic pupils. For the past thirty years Catherine has lived and worked in boarding school environments alongside her husband, Mark Boobbyer. Most recently Catherine completed a four-year BSc in Counselling and Psychotherapy and now works as part of the Chaplaincy and Pastoral care team at one of Dublin’s universities as well as counselling private clients. Catherine and Mark also have four adult children.