Moira Josephine Finnegan was born in Monza, Italy in 1930, the eldest daughter of Michael Finnegan and Lucy Foulsham. In 1934 the family moved back to Dublin, Ireland where her father worked for the Irish Civil Service. After her mother passed away, when Moira was 10, she and her sisters moved to Bradford, England to be cared for by her Aunt, Sally Foulsham. They traveled between Ireland and England to spend time with their father in Dublin and attend school in Bradford.  During this time, Moira spent a memorable year teaching English to the Bourbon royal family children in France.

After teaching in London, she moved to New York in 1961 and accepted a teaching position at the Ethical Culture School in Manhattan, NY.  She was passionate about stimulating the elementary school childrens' interest, creativity, and intellect.  She lived in Manhattan and taught at the school until she retired at the age of 72, having touched the lives of over a thousand children. By then she was a "dyed in the wool" New Yorker.   During school holidays, she pursued her passion: traveling the world, especially loving Italy and Greece. She spent one sabbatical year the school circling the globe and trekking in Nepal, witnessing Burma, and exploring China. She spent a second sabbatical year as an assistant to an Italian, Wall Street broker. She remained single throughout her life. In 2016, she left Manhattan to be closer to her sister, Veronica and her family, and to reside at Sunrise of Severna Park where she remained until she passed away. She was lovingly cared for by the staff of Sunrise.

She is survived by her two sisters, Sheila Bottomley, who lives in Los Angeles, California, and Veronica Finnegan Gallo of Arnold, Maryland, as well as Sheila's children, Michael Bottomley, David Bottomley, Sally Thrussell and Susan Schwartz, and Veronica's children, Steve Townsley, Ruth Stemberger and Helen Owens.  She is also survived by twelve great nieces and nephews: Michael and Daniel Thrussell, Stephen, Andrew, Jennifer and Daniel Schwartz,  Finnegan Townsley, , Andrew, Megan, and Katherine (Katie) Stemberger, and Austin and Nicholas (Nick) Owens.

A memorial mass will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2019 at 1:30pm at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, 689 Ritchie Hwy, Severna Park, MD 21146.