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2 February 2024

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Presentation Convent, Athenry 1908-2008

• October 15, 2014

Source: The Story of the Presentation Sisters, Scoil Chroi Naofa and Presentation College, Athenry (1908-2008)

Editor and Compiler: Gerald J. Ahern

The Presentation Convent Tuam

The Tuam Presentation Convent was established in 1835 when Sr. Mary de Sales Coppinger (Superioress), Sr. Mary Ignatius Blake and Sr. Mary Louis Tigh came from Galway on the invitation of Archbishop John McHale to establish a monastery of their Order in the town. This became the first post-Reformation Convent in the Archdiocese of Tuam. Funds for the establishment and endowment of the Convent were bequeathed by Mr. William Burke of Currylea.

The Sisters lived in Mr. Burke’s old residence for fourteen years. However, the accommodation was very unsuitable for both Convent and school. When the Famine came in 1845, the Sisters set aside their educational duties and did social work in feeding and clothing the needy. On the 26 th of July 1848, the foundation stone for their Convent proper was laid. By this time there were a hundred Sisters in the Community. The convent was blessed and opened in 1849.

Shortly after their arrival, the Sisters opened a primary school, but Archbishop John McHale would not allow any Catholic school in his diocese to apply for funding under the NationalSchool system established in 1832. However, the Great Famine that began in1845 had sent shock waves through the social fabric of Ireland that even Dr. McHale could not resist, and in 1852 he reluctantly gave permission to Parish Priests and Religious to place their schools within the national school system, while retaining patronage and control of the schools. The new Tuam Convent National School was opened in 1853.

Tuam Presentation Sisters at the start of the 20 th century

Three of the Sisters who came to Athenry in 1908 are pictured: Srs. Magdalen (1 st left at back), Mary Anne (5 th left at back) and Gertrude (6 th left at back).

Over the next century, the Tuam Convent became the Mother House for the Branch Houses established in Headford (1906), Athenry (1908), Keel, Achill (1919) and Tír an Fhia, Connemara (1935). In 1874 the Tuam convent also fulfilled Nano Nagle’s missionary vision when Sr. Aloysius Talbot joined five Dublin Presentation Sisters to open a school in New York. In 1950, five Sisters travelled to Taita, New Zealand to establish a new foundation and school under the patronage of the Archbishop of Wellington, Dr. McKeefry. A further two Sisters went there in 1952. Tuam, like all Mother Houses in the Presentation Order, was under diocesan control, had its own independence and control over its affairs, including the administration of its Branch Houses. 

The Establishment of the Presentation Convent, Athenry

On the 18 th of June 1907, Reverend Mother Mary Margaret Turner of the Presentation Convent in Tuam received a letter from Canon Joseph Canton, Parish Priest of Athenry, requesting her to send some Sisters to Athenry to begin a new foundation, and to teach in the local Girls’ NationalSchool.

After much correspondence between Canon Canton and the Reverend Mother, and with the good will, blessing and financial support of the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr. John Healy, on the 19 th of October the Canon wrote a letter of thanks and joy to Tuam thanking the Presentation Sisters for agreeing to come to Athenry.

Parochial House becomes Athenry Presentation Convent

Canon Canton was certainly a man of action and great generosity. It had been agreed that the Sisters would take up teaching positions in the National School on the 7 th of January 1908, and this urgency set the agenda for his  decisions to: pay off the debt (the £354-7-5 was given by the Archbishop) on the Parochial House to the Board of Works, vacate it and acquire temporary accommodation for himself and his sister in Old Church street, move the Sisters’ furniture into the Parochial house, clean and whitewash the school in Abbey Row, set in motion plans to build a new girls’ National School on a site behind the Convent and a new residence for himself on a fenced-off section of the convent grounds.

There is no doubt that his burning vision to improve the lot of the children of Athenry was the driving force that motivated and energised him to accomplish these goals. His letters clearly show the Holy Spirit working in and through him, and this was augmented by his great love for Mary, the Mother of God. He was a man on God’s mission, and it is a tremendous tribute to him that he achieved all of his goals in the space of three years. He retained 2 acres, 2 roods and 24 perches of the parochial land for himself and made plans to build a new residence for himself and his sister, Mary.  

The Four Founding Sisters

The first foreign missionary journey from Tuam took place in 1874 when Sr. Aloysius Talbot, a native of Dublin joined five Dublin Presentation Sisters who were invited to open a school in New York. This new venture in Athenry was but 14 miles, instead of the 3.500 miles to New York, but for Enclosed Sisters at the beginning of the 20 th Century it took faith, courage and tenacity to undertake the establishment of the new Athenry Foundation. In hurling terms, it was an inter-county team, Sisters from Galway. Kerry, Carlow and Wexford, that took the train from Tuam to Athenry on the 2 nd of January, 1908.

Mother M. Catherine Storey

 When the second branch convent was opened in Athenry at the invitation of the late Canon Canton, Mother Catherine was chosen to head the band of foundresses where she taught in the junior school until she returned to Tuam to become Mother Bursar. She filled the Office of Bursar, Superior and assistant Superior.  It was during her time of office that the Keel, Achill, Branch was established at the request of the Archbishop, the late Most Rev. Dr. Gilmartin.   From its foundation, Mother Catherine took a very deep interest in this particular Convent. She was a woman of great prudence and wisdom, but her great humility outshone her other gifts.  She passed to her maker, whom she served so well, on the 13 th January 1944 while the Sisters sang at her bedside by her request.

Sr. Mary Ann O’Keefe

Sr. M. Magdalen L Costello

Sr. Gertrude O’Sullivan

Sr. Gertrude was a native of Kerry. During her life she fulfilled many roles: educator, musician, nurse, accountant and business woman. She was a tireless worker and was busy right up to a short time before her death on the 22 nd of January, 1956. She was an avid letter-writer to friends and past pupils and, after her death messages of sympathy came from all over the country. She had great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to our Lady; the Feasts of the Immaculate Conception and Assumption were special to her. All during her life she made sure that the sick received proper medical care and attention. With her, nobody was neglected, be it Sister, pupil or priest. 

Departure to the new Presentation Foundation in Athenry on January 2 nd 1908

This is part of the account of the departure of the four Sisters was written by Sr. Augustine.

Athenry Presentation Convent 1912

Photo: Dom Coll

Census of Ireland 1911 giving Names of the Sisters in Presentation Convent

The ground floor consisted of a hallway with a parlour/sitting room on the left with a kitchen to its rear, two small reception rooms on the right, a large room similar in size to the parlour with a small room behind it. Upstairs there were seven bedrooms and a bathroom. In 1913, a Chapel was constructed behind and adjoining the building, and the small room was converted into a sacristy. Around that time, Tommy and Nora Duddy, Old Church Street, Athenry, presented a Monstrance to the Sisters for their new chapel.  Srs. Magdalen, Mary Ann, Gertrude and Catherine arrived and were greeted by Canon Canton. Their first stop was Athenry church where the Canon blessed them and prayed over them for the success of their mission. Then into the parlour where Mary, the Canon’s sister, had a blazing fire on, and they tucked into a wholesome lunch.

Not only a Convent but a small farm as well

In 1894, the 5 acres of land behind the Convent was ‘ granted and conveyed ’ by James Perry Goodbody to Archbishop John McEvilly, Canon Joseph Canton and Reverend William Coen to be held in a Trust by them ‘ for educational and charitable purposes (for the benefit of the Roman Catholic Inhabitants from time to time of the Parish of Athenry) ’.

In 1909, Mary J. Tucker and Julia Turner (Superioress of the Presentation Order, Tuam) became Trustees, and this action allowed the Sisters from that time onwards to use the lands according to the terms of the Trust. They did so in 1910 to build the new ConventNationalSchool and later Scoil Chroí Naofa in 1980, and in 1947/48 and 1979/80 to construct the old and new secondary schools. (In 1968, this Trust vested the lands into the full ownership of the Presentation Sisters.)

For some time before the Sisters arrived, Canon Canton did some farming on land in Moonbaun opposite the entrance to the Raheen Sports grounds. During the latter quarter of the 19 th century and the first decade of the 20 th , the great estates around Athenry were being bought out by the Land Commission and divided up among small farmers and the town’s landless citizens. Canon Canton was given a ‘stripe’ of 12 acres adjoining his small parcel of land. In return, he had to pay an annuity of £5-1-6. In order to make the Sisters as self-sufficient as possible, this land was transferred to them, and they took on this annuity payment, and also the £1-3-7 annuity for the land in front of the convent. Later they would come into the ownership of the field (3.802 acres) in Caheroyn where the Vocational School is now situated and the strip of land (2.024) where the PCA Sports Centre is situated. In all, their farm would consist of  circa 23 acres.

(In 1968 they would sell the Moonbaun land to pay for the construction of the new addition to the rear of the Convent. They would come to an agreement with County Galway Vocational Educational Committee to exchange their Caheroyn field for the Committee’s field that at the present time is the PCA Sports grounds on the Caheroyn Road).

 Nano Nagle did not envisage her Order to be an enclosed one when it came into being in 1775, (the same year that Daniel O’Connell, the Liberator, was born and who led the campaign for Catholic Emancipation that came about in 1829) but rather that it would engage with the world in its mission. The core of her vision was the spiritual and educational welfare of the poor children that she encountered every day in the streets of Cork.

However, it was not long after Nano’s death that there was a growing desire within the community for enclosure. The principal reason for this very fundamental change was the realisation that the Sisters were ‘merely a religious society making annual vows-one which may in time under existing circumstances fall to the ground’. They desired a ‘more steady foundation’, and this could only come about ‘in forming a regular Confirmed Order and consequently by strict observance of enclosure’, like the Ursulines in Cork. They wished to be ‘raised to the dignity of a Religious Order as an essential preliminary’, and ‘to confine ourselves to the education of the poor within our own enclosure’. Solemn vows would replace simple vows within enclosure.

The Sisters petitioned Rome in a text of their New Constitution sent to the congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in 1802. They were supported in this by Dr. Moylan, Bishop of Cork. Of course, there were other reasons for this ground-breaking change including the burden of teaching and the visitations to the sick. As well, it was an age where paternalism was dominant and women were, in the eyes of those in prominent religious and social positions, in need of masculine protection and stewardship.

Three years later on the 9 th of April 1805, the brief, the Decretum Approbationis of the Sisters of the Blessed Mary, was promulgated in Rome. Five months later, on the 17 th of September, Dr. Moylon read the document to the assembled community in Cove Lane, Cork. The core section read thus:

‘ We consent and grant to the now existing afore-mentioned Virgins and all future ones, that they may and can, on the expiration of the time of Probation, having observed all that is otherwise to be observed, freely be admitted to the solemn profession of religious Vows, and with the addition of a fourth, namely, that of education and instructing young girls, especially the poor, in the precepts and rudiments of the Catholic faith; in such wise, nevertheless, as that they be obliged in future to live under the aforesaid Rules and Constitutions, to be subject to the jurisdiction of the Ordinary, to observe the laws of enclosure, and therefore never by any means to pass from the limits of the Monastery, unless for the most weighty reasons, expressed in the Constitutions, and sanctioned by Canon Law’ .

Henceforth, the Presentation Sisters would be an enclosed Order, living and teaching behind walls, having little contact with family, friends and the outside world. Enclosure did not impede vocations to the Order. By 1900 there were over 8,000 nuns and thirty-five female religious orders with a total of 368 convents throughout the country. All were under the control of the Vatican or the local bishop, whose power and control over them was strengthened by the Code of Canon Law issued in 1917.

The Convent Farm and Mick Mannion

The farm, which consisted of approximately 23 acres, was synonymous with its caretaker, Mick Mannion, who spent 50 years working and caring for it.

‘Doll’ and family

Mick was born in 1904 and lived near Dillon’s Cross about two miles out the Monivea Road. He had built his own house and married Mary Lynsky (he called her ‘Doll’) and they had a family of four boys and two girls: Michael, Martin (R.I.P.), Paddy (RIP), Joe, Bridie and Margaret (R.I.P.). At the present time, Michael, Joe and Bridie live in Athenry. Mick started work on the farm around 1926 after Joe Maloney built the wall around the new vegetable garden, where Scoil Chroi Naofa now stands. In 1926 his weekly wage was £1 for a 70 hour, seven day week. That was the time when a pound had 240 pence and you could buy a pot of jam for 7 pence or one cent in today’s money.

A dapper man

Mick was a dapper man who wore a hat and smoked a curved pipe stoked with his favourite Clark’s Perfect Plug tobacco. He cycled in the Monivea road every morning and evening, greeting everyone he met with a wave and a pleasant smile.

The vegetable garden was Mick’s pride and joy and through it the Nuns were self sufficient in produce before, during and long after World War 2. Many people have memories of seeing a spade stuck in the clay with Mick’s hat on the top of the handle; this was Mick’s way of letting people know he was about the place. He also cultivated the Nuns’ flower garden, which was between the Convent and the Chapel Lane that now links the present Church of the Assumption and car park of Fahy’s Centra supermarket. Here the Nuns grew a wide variety of blooms for their own Convent Chapel and the nearby parish church. Also in the garden was the greenhouse where he cultivated a wide variety of tomatoes and early vegetables.    

A typical day for Mick started at 7.00 a.m. when he unlocked the small pedestrian gate beside the Arch that was used by pupils to enter the convent grounds on their way to school. There were two timber uprights in the gateway to prevent bicycles and other wheeled contraptions entering. He looked up to admire the two magnificent horse chestnut trees that stood inside the large main gate.

He made his way to the boiler house at the rear of the convent and lit the wood-fuelled furnace that provided central heating to the convent and primary school. Then he opened the cookery and laundry rooms beside the boiler house. Shortly afterwards, he milked the three cows in the byres that stood against the wall that now separates Scoil Chroi Naofa and Murphy’s property at the Arch. He let the cows out to graze in the lush meadow of the field in Caheroyn and carried the buckets of milk into the convent, where he had his breakfast in what became known as Mick’s Room beside the kitchen. He cleaned out the fires and filled the coal scuttles before making his way to the byres to clean them out. Following this he worked in the gardens and being watchless, but having a natural sense of time, he knew when it was dinner time, which he took in his Room.

After school was over, he cleaned the toilets and burned the rubbish. Then off to further work in the gardens, followed by milking the cows. He checked the hens in their run (he clipped their wings to stop them escaping from their run), had his tea, locked up the large and small gates at the Arch at 6.00 p.m. and headed home. At that time, the last house on the Caheroyn Road was Jimmy Quinn’s and there was no other, except Kindregans, until he reached his own abode.

Many Nuns came and went over the years and Mick got on with all of them. He was particularly fond of Sisters Baptist and Marie Therese. In or about 1940 Mick got ill and had to be hospitalised in Galway for a month. During that absence, his son, Michael, fulfilled his duties. Many have memories of the beautiful raised circular summer house that Mick built in the corner of the large field beside the Tuam Road railway bridge. On balmy Summer days, the Nuns strolled on paths around the field and sat in the summer house to say their office.

 A man of many talents

Summer was the busiest time for Mick. He bought turf from farmers and reeked it beside the wall near the boiler house. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Duffy from Annagh Cross arrived with cartloads of wood to fuel the furnace, convent kitchen range and fires. Hay was saved and stored in the barn beside the cow byres. And with a push lawnmower he cut the grass on both sides of the avenue at the Convent entrance.

It was during those Summer days that he loved to attend hurling matches in Athenry and venues within a 20 mile radius. Whenever there was building work to be done, Mick did the hiring of the contractor as he was familiar with all the local tradesmen. Autumn time saw him buy and sell cows and cattle at the bustling Athenry fair and on wet winter days he chopped up wood in his shed beside the laundry room.

A kind hearted soul

Mick was a kind hearted soul and many remember him for the times during wet weather he dried pupils’ coats and shoes in the boiler house. In the 1960s, when he was walking down the street in Hammersmith, London, he was recognised and embraced by former pupils to whom he had shown his caring ways. His kindness left an indelible mark on the heart of one pupil:

‘ I can still remember the aroma of Mick’s pipe tobacco, wafting over the fuchsia hedge as I walked up the path to school.   This told me that he was working in the garden.    Mick was the kindest and gentlest of men, always there in a crisis, like the day a wasp landed on my little brother’s finger and stung him badly.   Mick heard the screams and having ascertained their cause, quickly unscrewed the stem of his pipe and applied the ‘súdar’, thus alleviating the pain immediately.  

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam’.

He worked until he retired at 70 years of age and he passed away to his reward on the 14 th of February 1987, aged 83.

(Thanks to Michael Mannion for information on his father’s life.)

Sisters’ Convent lives-1917 onwards.

The Code of Canon Law of 1917 set the parameters of daily convent life right up to the late 1950s. It laid down: weekly confession, daily Eucharist, set hours for prayer and meditation. Laws of fast and abstinence were strictly enforced during Lent and Advent and on every Friday throughout the year. A process of fulfilling a series of obligations was the practise of religious life.

The 1928 extension of the Convent

The plans for this were drawn by R.M. Butler, 82, Merrion Square, Dublin, architect, and four building firms, M. Doyle, Limerick, John Broderick, Athenry, T. Coghlan, Dublin and R. McDonald, Galway tendered for the project. The lowest tender was £1,850 and the highest £3,350. The 1928 extension greatly enlarged the convent. Its ground floor consisted of: a refectory, two music rooms, a large addition to the kitchen, small dairy and larder rooms and a corridor linking the new section to the old building. Upstairs, there were now six additional bedrooms for the growing number of sisters.

In 1929 a new entrance porch was build, Mr. Butler again being the architect.

1939-Kindness to Canon Canton’s sister

The Sisters were forever grateful to Canon Canton who died in 1920. When his sister, who lived in Caheroyn, was ill in 1939, Sr. Magdalen Costello in Tuam wrote the following letter to Sr. Catherine Storey, Superioress of Athenry Convent:

18 th June 1939 .

My dear Sister,

I am sorry to see by your letter this morning that Miss Canton is in feeble health.

In case of her death, the Community here will be responsible for expenses incurred and for removal of remains to Athenry Church where Requiem High mass will be celebrated for her soul.

With all good wishes,

Sincerely yours in JC,

Sr. M. Magdalin

If she is conscious, kindly give her my love.

Entering the Presentation Order in the 1956-Sr. Mary O’Regan’s memories

For the first six months or so, I was a postulant.   Five other girls entered with me.   During our postulancy we took part in the regular routine of religious life, did some study, helped in the schools and gradually became familiar with the type of life we had taken on.   We were allowed visits from family and were free to leave if we wished.

In June we were formally received into the Novitiate and given the habit of the Order and a white veil.  The first year of novitiate was known as the spiritual year and was very strict.   Visits from family members were allowed only at Christmas and Easter, and mail was restricted to once a month.   Of course, we knew that we were never to go home.  During that year we prayed, studied the constitutions and the vows and did a lot of spiritual reading. Our whole day was organised from the time we were called at 5.50 a.m. till lights out at 10.00 p.m.

The second year of novitiate was devoted to prayer, study, housework, partial involvement in the school, which was our main ministry.   We did a lot of soul searching in preparation for the profession of the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.  At the end of the two years novitiate, those of us who wished to stay took vows and were given a black veil.  After our profession we were assigned to branch houses or training college, or university.   After three more years we took final vows for life.

Summer Relaxation in the Convent gardens

L-r:  Srs. De Pazzi, Dominic, Columbanus and Mechtilde

The Nuns’ Daily Horarium (Schedule) before Vatican 2

5.50 a.m. – Morning Call

6.00 a.m. -Rise

6.15 a.m. – Morning Prayers

6.30 a.m. – Meditation

7.00 a.m. – Lauds (praises)

7.15 a.m. – Mass

8.00 a.m. – Breakfast.

9.15 a.m. – School begins

11.45 a.m. – Examination of conscience followed by Angelus (for those not in school)

12.30 p.m. – Lunch

3.30 p.m. – School ends

3.45 p.m. – Afternoon tea

4-5 p.m. – Recreation

5.00 p.m. – Vespers (evensong)

6.00-7.00 p.m. – Study

7.00 p.m. – Supper

7.30 p.m. – Meditation

8.00-9.00 p.m. – Recreation

9.15 p.m. – Night prayer

10.00 p.m. – Lights out-Silence

While life was very strict and Bells a big feature of it, the Sisters kept abreast of local and national news and events through the radio and newspapers. In January 1941, £1-10-0 was spent repairing the Radio and £0-18-0 was paid out for newspapers (Convent Accounts). They were tremendous letter writers as the same accounts show regular monthly expenditure on postage.

Pre-Vatican 2 Community Life in Athenry Presentation Convent

The rule of Enclosure was strictly enforced. The Sisters had no permission to go beyond the Convent grounds, which included the Back field, where the Primary and Secondary Schools now stand. When attending Sunday Mass in the nearby Parish church, the Sisters left the Convent through the now blocked –up gate that was behind the large container of Holy Water behind the Church. They seated themselves in a curtained –off section of the left transept where they had a view of the Priest saying the Mass. The Holy Rule was all important, and everything was done in common: Morning and Evening Prayer, recreation and meals were controlled by the sound of the Bell. Silence was very important and there was little communication with the people of the town and parish. 

(Source-The Athenry Journal, No.14, Christmas, 2001)

Sr. Ena Canny remembers her brother’s ordination in 1961

My brother, Fr. Steve, was ordained in AllHallowsCollege, Dublin, on June 18 th 1961. At that time we were not allowed to attend his ordination. This was before Vatican 2. He got permission to celebrate his first Mass in Headford church to facilitate my sister, Sr. Chanel, and me. Our parish church was Corner Chapel but we were not allowed to go there. Chanel and I stayed in the Headford convent that weekend. The night of the ordination our neighbours had a huge bonfire blazing in front of our house to welcome Fr. Steve home from Dublin with my parents and family. Steve came up to the convent later that night to give us his blessing.

Things have changed a lot since that time. Now we can celebrate special occasions with our families.

Relationships, Perfection, Personal Growth and Communal Life- A Sister’s reflection

Relationships were discouraged.  Relating intimately to God/Jesus was not on the formation agenda, and the mystical writers who pointed in that direction were not on the convent book shelves. Archbishop Goodier’s ‘Life of Jesus’ did begin the opening up of the Scriptures that forecast one of the big changes of Vatican 2. Striving for perfection was one of the underlying principles of our spirituality – without the awareness that it is mainly a question of grace, not our own poor efforts!  This goal often produced introspection and scrupulosity. By implication, we were in a state more perfect than that of our lay friends and family!

Our lives were tightly controlled by strict obedience to the Rule – “keep the Rule and the Rule will keep you”. Minute regulations, which at their worst, made little sense and stifled autonomous growth and the taking on of adult responsibilities. Even recreational activities were strictly limited to a choice of sewing or reading novels.  Finding and reading a Walter Macken novel was a great memory. Communal Prayer was based mainly on daily Mass, the recital of the Psalms in Latin (most of us didn’t read Latin). Personal prayer consisted of structured meditation and devotions such as the Rosary. Weekly Benediction could be an experience of intense emotional devotion stimulated by organ music, incense, and the best flowers from  the garden! On such a varied prayer diet many of the older Sisters showed signs of great nearness to God, unselfishness, kindness and love of others in an often difficult life.

Enclosure and increased vocations up the 1950s.

In 20 th Century Ireland, the 1950s were the high point of vocations to religious orders. The 1941 census showed that one out of every 400 women was entering a convent. And this flood of vocations continued right into the next decade. The Sisters’ lives were hard and difficult but the spirit of their vocations united them and inspired them.

Sr. Bríd Brennan put it as follows: ‘ What bound and inspired us and gave us spiritual sustenance? There was enormous commitment especially to needy pupils and to the acceptance of a Spartan life so that funding could go to build and support schools in an era that lacked Government grants. Personal differences were often accepted and transcended by this common interest, as we worked together towards a common goal. Other factors, which softened an often harsh life, were care of the sick and aged and the bonding of novices with the elderly ill .’

1950-Pope Pius X11 and Education of Nuns

However, even before Vatican 2 arrived, the Papacy was concerned about the level of professional learning among the religious nuns. Following an international congress in Rome that urged superior generals to educate their subjects, there followed for some a decade of summer schools in theology, scriptural studies and the up-dating of subjects taught at school level. All of this helped to start the process of breaking down artificial isolation and barriers within and among congregations.

Athenry Presentation Sisters in the 1950s

Vatican 2 and the ‘Opening of Windows’

Vatican 2 Council (1958-1965) ushered in fresh thinking into the role of the Church in the fast-changing world of the 1960s. It examined its teaching of the Gospel as it pertained to the social and technological changes that were sweeping through all aspects of learning and thinking, and how these same changes were beginning to affect the way the faithful were living their lives. For enclosed religious, it brought major and far-reaching changes, the long-term repercussions of which few perceived and understood at that time.

Athenry Presentation Convent Sisters in the early 1960s

Front: Sr. Clement (Kathleen) Hallinan. 2 nd Row, l-r: Sr. Eugenia Murphy, Sr. Baptist Kelly, Sr. Berchmans Duggan, Sr. Dominic Roche, Sr. Stanislaus (Teresa Mary) Taylor, Sr. Teresa Conway and Sr. Raymond (Philomena) Noone. Back, l-r: Fr. Moran C.C., Sr. Gertrude (Teresa) Morrin, Sr. Columbanus Noone, Sr. Paul Canavan, Sr. Benedict (Catherine) O’Brien, Sr. Claude (Maura) Balfe and Sr. de Pazzi Lally.

Presentation Sisters and Religious Life

They were told to go back to their roots and look again at the charism of its foundress. Presentations saw education in a broader context, and not enclosure but in going out to work with and for the needy and underprivileged was their remit. Some saw education in schools as a vital part of their mission.

Others became involved in justice groups, in social and pastoral work for the poor in the third world. Sadly, too, came the departure of Sisters who found they were unsuited for the calling they had so willingly undertaken.

Post Vatican 2 Reflections-Sr. Mary O’Reagan

After Vatican 2, there was a complete turn about.  The daily Horarium became more flexible.   Emphasis was put on personal responsibility.  Blind obedience was replaced by discernment and consultation with the person in charge.   People were encouraged to take responsibility for their actions.  We were also encouraged to take part in courses for renewal of religious life.  Different forms of prayer were introduced and we were free to choose times and places for prayer and retreats.   A lot of emphasis was placed on the awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church, and our own inadequacy and dependency on that Holy Spirit. Some people could not cope with this change.   A number of Sisters left the Congregation.   Those of us who stayed are struggling on as best we can, and, even though our numbers have dwindled, there is still a great generosity in young people.  There may not be religious life as we knew it, but the Lord is still calling people to ministry.

Presentation Sisters, Tuam in the mid to late 1960s

Gradual Changes to the Horarium-1966-1976

To students and the public, the change in the habit was the most obvious- first the head gear, then the dress became to calf-length and the hair-line was allowed out. The Sisters moved from a monastic to an Apostolic way of life. Prayer was now in English from the purple book and talking was allowed at meals. Reading in the refectory was abolished. Sisters received ‘pocket money’: cars were purchased for the use of the community

They celebrated Holy Week ceremonies in the local Church. Before Vatican 2 it was in the Convent. Devotional ceremonies were exchanged for the official liturgical ceremonies of the Church. Nuns were allowed to visit home for 3-4 days with the permission of the Bishop, which included a day coming and going. A big change came in the whole area of Ministry, where once they spent all of their time in school. There were opportunities to retrain for other ministries i.e. personal renewal Courses – i.e. “Focus for Action”. This was a turn about from being focused on their own sanctification to focus out among people. Their lives became an invitation and challenge to make a more radical response to Christ’s call.

The Convent accounts show that in 1965, £5 was paid for a TV licence and £10 was expended on the Telephone. June 1968 saw £0-14-11 paid for petrol, and the following year Sr. Loretto (Carmel) acquired a Driving licence for £1. The Sisters were quickly opening avenues of communication with the locality and the world. Yet, their letter writing did not diminish as the accounts show regular sums paid for postage right up into the 1970s.

Memories of the Presentation Sisters, Athenry 1963-1971 from Fr. Martin Gleeson

I same to Athenry in 1963 having ministered on ClareIsland and Inish Turk the previous six years.   For me it was a new experience to minister in an area that had a convent of nuns.  The other curate at the time was Fr. Louis Hennelly; the parish priest was Canon Conor Heaney.   We celebrated Mass in the Convent when our week came around.   One of the Sisters brought in the breakfast to a dining room after Mass.   The community at that time was about twenty.   Some were retired like Srs. Baptist and Berchmans.   Some taught in the Secondary School and some in the NationalSchool

The Convent.

On Sunday mornings the nuns went to early Mass in the Church.   They had a special place separate from the people where you have the Blessed Sacrament is at present.  That area inside the arches was cut off from the people by a partition.   I cannot say for certain whether it was a curtain or something more solid, but it was their allotted place at the first Mass on Sunday.  Not being used to a setting like this, I almost omitted to give them Holy Communion the first few Sundays after I came to Athenry.   I am talking now about the old Church before it was renovated.  

The Presentation Order was an enclosed Order.   You could not see them outside their own convent grounds.  The story goes that on one occasion when the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr. Walsh, was travelling by train to Dublin he saw a Presentation Sister on the platform.  Afterwards he demanded an explanation.  They used to come out to the church for a later Mass on Sunday as well as an early Mass but this was stopped for some reason.  

 The Convent was extended in 1968 when a new addition was added to the rear of the building.  They were unlucky with the lady architect who was recommended to them by the Archbishop.  They had quite a lot of difficulty with her and the job dragged on for a long time.  She lived in Dublin as far as I know.  An indication of the value of money at that time I bought a new Morris Minor car after going to Athenry for £385.   I cannot remember the nuns having any car at that time.

Telephones and T.V.

Not everyone had a phone.  I had none even though I lived down in the New Line.  The other curate, Fr. Louis Hennelly, had none.  Canon Heaney the Parish Priest had one.  I presume the Convent had a phone.   T.V. came in 1962.  I got a black and white in 1964 and I presume the Convent got one around that time.  I wonder today as I write this what recreational facilities had they.  They were not allowed out for walks. When Sr. Dominic (left) wanted a message, she came out to the entrance gates of the Church and beckoned to Eddie Brady (Butcher) on the opposite side of the Street.  Ann Teresa, his daughter, would get whatever message she wanted.   Even though confined, Sr. Dominic had the ability to gather a lot of news about the parish from people she met in the Church grounds.

The Vatican Council 1962-65

This brought great changes to the lives of the Presentation Sisters as it did for all Religious Orders and Congregations.   Now they had greater freedom to travel outside their own convent grounds.   Their dress was modified to suit the kind of work they did and they were given a choice.   Those nuns who had lived so long under the old regime found many of the changes difficult to take.   Sadly, fewer and fewer postulants joined and today I do not think they have one.

1967-L-r:  Sr. Berchmans, Sr. Anastasia Keane, Mrs. Nora Keary and Sr. Baptist

Photo: Mary Keary

Whatever the future holds, the contribution of the Presentation Sisters to Primary and Secondary education in Athenry and their total commitment to same should never be forgotten.   Their contribution was enormous.  I left Athenry in 1971 when I was transferred to Tuam.

The Convent in the 1970s

Sr. Anne Donohue came to Athenry in September 1974 and in the community during those years were: Srs. Baptist (R.I.P) Berchmans (R.I.P), Dominic (R.I.P), de Pazzi (R.I.P), Eugenia (R.I.P.), Nuala Newell (R.I.P), Colette Dolan (R.I.P.), Bríd Brennan, Katherine Burke, Genevieve Kilbane, Ríona Mc Hugh, Lucy Kenny, Declan Allen, Ena Canney, Nuala Courtney, Evelyn Geraghty, Laura Boyle, Mary Mc Dermott and Kathleen Mc Donagh (Raphael).

Athenry Presentation Sister 1972/73

Front, l-r: Sr. Eugenia Murphy, Sr. Marie Ward and Sr. Nuala Newell.

Middle, l-r: Sr. de Pazzi Lally and Sr. Declan Allen.

Back, l-r: Sr. Raphael McDonagh, Sr. Brigid Banks, Sr. Evelyn Geraghty and Sr. Laura Boyle.

Front, l-r: Sr. Baptist Kelly and Sr. Berchmans Duggan. Middle, l-r: Sr. Declan Allen, Sr. Celestine Whyte, Sr. Carmel Raftery and Sr. Genevieve Kilbane. Back, l-r: Sr. Evelyn Geraghty, Sr. Laura Boyle, Sr. Catherine Leonard and Sr. Lucy Kenny.

L-r: Sr. Carmel Raftery, Sr. Anne Donohue, Sr. Catherine Leonard, Sr. Genevieve Kilbane, Sr. Raphael McDonagh, Sr. Laura Boyle, Sr. Bríd brennan, Sr. Evelyn Geraghty, Sr. Katherine Burke and Sr. Brigid Banks.

Changes in Liturgy and Convent-Sr. Genevieve Kilbane’s memories of the 1970s

I gladly returned in 1972 for a much longer period. What a difference ten years made.   This was Post Vatican 2 times when significant changes were taking place in the Church at large and in Religious Life in particular.  A magnificent modern Church was built in Athenry with a spacious altar area.  Here, in the years that followed, we staged our Christmas plays, Liturgies, Services and Masses.   There was song and sacred dance.    Significant occasions were marked by some colourful liturgy.  To me this was a “Golden Age” in the Faith Development of youth.

Life in the Convent had changed too over the years.  The gates were now opened and we mixed freely with the people.  We could now visit the sick in their homes or in hospitals.  We were also allowed to go home to see our families.   We modified our dress and soon assumed a more natural and normal lifestyle. 

We were encouraged to do further studies, especially in Scripture and Theology, which helped us see that we were all one family, united together in the parish, all working together for the spread of the Gospel.  It was particularly in Athenry that I saw this come about.  There was great collaboration at all times with parents, staffs, helpers, clergy and people in the town and country.  We no longer lived and worked in “splendid isolation” but worked as one big family always supported and assured of the presence and power of so many others alongside us.

Sr. Kathleen McDonagh remembers walking the “Pound”

In the early 1970s, due to the changes as a result of Vatican 2, we were able to go walking through and outside the town. The favourite after-lunch walk of the older Sisters became the Tuam road, then only sparsely inhabited, as far as the pump. We younger ones took advantage of our new freedom by walking the “Pound” after school, or, at weekends, venturing farther afield out the Galway road, through Mulpit and back by the Craughwell road.

The late 1970s in the Community Room with Sr. Baptist stoking the fire and Sr. Kevin busy with her knitting.

1974- Golden Jubilee of Sr. Agnes Kyne

L-r:  Sr. Mary of the Sacred Heart, Sr. Kathleen Hallinan, Sr. Agnes Kyne, Fr. Paul Costello and Sr. Mechtilde Dermody

The 1976 Eucharistic Celebration to commemorate the foundation of the Order.

The Athenry Sisters and people held this historic event on Presentation Day, November 21 st , in the Church of the Assumption. At that time there were more than 400 Presentation Convents scattered throughout the five continents of the world. The entrance hymn was the beautiful ‘Glorious God’ followed by the Gloria. An addendum was added to the first reading: ‘ Like Mary, Nano Nagle dedicated her life as a handmaid of the  Lord. She undertook the Mission of educating youth and adults, of visiting and serving the aged, the sick and the poor, wherever she could find the time.  The religious Congregation she founded continues Nano Nagle’s work. Nano’s spirit of sacrifice for the good of souls is alive today, wherever Presentation Sisters are at work throughout the world ’.

The Mass ended with the singing of Salve Regina and these words:

‘The sisters wish to thank sincerely all those who, over the years, have helped in any  way, to further the work of Nano Nagle in the Parish of Athenr. May Almighty God enrich you with his gifts of Faith, Hope and Love, so that what you do in this life, will bring you to the happiness of everlasting Life.’

More Organisational Changes

By 1976 there were more organisational changes with the Presentation Order. It was called the Union of Presentation Sisters in three Provinces with one Superior General, Sr. Lucy Troy. The Order was no longer under the stewardship of the local Bishop. It had found its freedom to chart its own course in a radically changing world.

The Convent Kitchen

Like most houses, the kitchen was at the heart of the community and its white table was a central prop to all the varied activities that occurred on a daily basis.

L-r: Sr. L-L-Sr. Sr.Philomena Noone, Mary Keary, Mary Murphy, Sr. Mary McDermott and Sr. Nuala Courtney

Sr. Kathleen McDonagh’s memories of the kitchen in the 1970s

During the glory hurling and camogie years, there was often unusual activity in the Convent kitchen. It became, for a few hours, the command post for whatever match was on that day: practice, a local contest or an All-Ireland. Teachers and Sisters were dispatched around the catchment area to pick up the players; cups of tea were made and sandwiches prepared, and Fr. Martin O’Grady, in his element, issued instructions to all and sundry as well as his match forecast. Through these special occasions we got to know the students and the local townlands in a special way and forged strong bonds between the two schools and communities.

Above all there was the excitement of the matches themselves, which were replayed in the Convent kitchen for months afterwards. When the excitement got too high in the kitchen, Sr. Berchmans would steal to the door and close it gently in a vain effort to restore monastic silence. Mary Murphy, our house keeper since around 1970, was delighted with all the excitement as she sat in the corner chatting and laughing or weaved her way around the guests preparing the Sister’s lunch.

Slicing the Cake in 1978

L-r: Mary Murphy, Sr. Mary McDermott, Sr. Dorothy Bennett, Sr. Kathleen McDonagh Sr. Teresa McDonagh, Sr. Mary Rossiter, Sr. Mary Hendron and Sr. Collette Dolan.

Sr. Dorothy Bennett’s memories of the Kitchen

In my days in Athenry,  Sr. Genevieve Kilbane was superior of the community.  Sr. Philomene Noone was Bursar.  Other members of the community were: Mothers Baptist and Agnes, Srs. Kevin, Alphonsus Allen, Eugenia Murphy, Brid Brennan, Katherine Burke, Colette Dolan, Kathleen (Raphael) McDonagh and Mary McDermott.  Later came Brid O’Dwyer, Brid Kenny, Eithne Cunniffe, Mary McDonagh and Colette McCloskey

I was not a teacher but cooked for the sisters and whoever else might come to the convent.  In those days the Convent was a very open house and the kitchen was like a public road.  This was very different from Kildare where the kitchen was more or less out of the way and more private. 

A lady from Athenry, Mary Murphy, helped me.  She was from Ballygurrane and had been cooking for the sisters for years. My responsibilities were to do the cooking, bring in the provisions and collect the bills.  The Bursar wrote the cheques, which I then delivered.  The shopkeepers were always very generous and sometimes gave me a wee gift of some nature-a bar of chocolate, or a few wee buns.

The priests, Frs. John D. Flannery, Charlie O’Malley were always part of the community and came in for dinner, which was left ready for them.  When they came in they sat at a wee round table in the corner of the kitchen and ate their dinner without any pomp or ceremony. 

Fr. Charlie’s brother Michael, a priest in Africa, sometimes also came.  Canon Gibbon’s dinner was taken to his house by Sr. Colette Dolan, a great friend of his.  On Saturday mornings, he usually came into the kitchen and smoked for an hour.

1978- Sr. Declan Allen, centre, celebrated her Silver Jubilee

1978/1979-Sr.Collette McCloskey’s memories of the Church Choir and the Pope’s visit to Knock

While teaching Gaeilge, Music and Religion in school I was also involved with the parish choir.   Sr. Carmella and myself had responsibility for the dedicated group of ladies and gentlemen who met each Tuesday night to practise for the following Sunday’s liturgy. There were many celebrations throughout the year, which also had to be attended to:   Confirmation every two years, the Priests and Nuns Reunion, which saw the return of many native sons and daughters of the Parish every August.   The members of the choir became very good friends of mine and we enjoyed several good social evenings together.   We were treated to an evening out after Confirmation and we certainly made the most of those treats.

In 1978, with the Centenary of the Apparition of Knock looming, a Diocesan Choir was formed and Jimmy Kearns, Ena O’Grady, Sr. Vincent, Sr. Carmella and myself travelled to practices in various parishes throughout the diocese, which also meant that we got to know many others from the Diocese, and for me this was great as I wouldn’t have known too many.

The visit of Pope John Paul 11 was now on the horizon and the choir, now well established, was preparing for his visit.  This was a great privilege and I still have my ID card that we were given to gain access to the high security area in Knock, which had the altar, and right beside that the platform for the choir. I remember arriving back to Tuam by bus in the early hours of the morning to collect our cars, to discover I had lost a lens from my glasses, and never missed it as I was so tired.

1970s- Making a presentation to Sr. Mary of the Sacred Heart Leahy

L-r: Srs. Patricia Whyte, Genevieve Kilbane, Gorretti Connoughton, Mary of the Sacred Heart Leahy, Nuala Courtney and Bríd Brennan

The Convent 1975-1990 by Fr. J.D. Flannery

Writing now in 2008 and seeing the school complex of the Presentation Sisters, it is hard to imagine what the conditions and buildings were in the past.  My first meeting with Presentation Sisters of Athenry was in 1974 when I came to conduct a school retreat for the students.   My memory is of a series of pre-fab buildings with the old Primary School sitting alongside, and a playground of a then rough surface – the so-called playing pitch.  I well remember looking out from one of those pre-fabs and seeing a male figure with a knitted caipín on his head directing, cajoling and moulding a group of young ladies into All Ireland Winning Schools, Senior and Junior Camogie teams.   Little did I realise then in 1974 that I would be making my home in Athenry from 1975-1990 as Curate in the parish.

My immediate memory is a very personal one for which I will always acknowledge with a grateful heart – the welcome, the friendship, the hospitality and the support I received from the Sisters.   The Convent was for me a home from home with Mary Murphy as a second mother to me in its kitchen.

Any comment from me would first have to acknowledge what the Presentation Convent was and still is.   Its presence with its religious community is a witness, a sign, a light, a reminder of commitment of service and as a centre of prayer and worship of God – where we have a community of Sisters committed to a calling and, by their very presence, a reminder to us all of Him, who came to serve and by His service bringing peace, joy and new hope.   Education – the vision and courage of those Sisters – two new buildings Primary and Secondary, now a finished product.   Let’s not forget, the long years of preparation with all the accompanying anxiety, sweat, and worry while at the same time giving of their best with very limited resources.   Those buildings stand now as a living tribute to the heroic and trojan work of Athenry’s Presentation Sisters in fulfilling their commitment and mission to educating the young.  My memory is of huge numbers attending parents’ get-togethers, meetings, the timely formation of Parent Councils and the far-seeing vision and wisdom of the then Principal, Sr. Bríd Brennan, not alone in providing new buildings but in promoting and engaging a whole new concept of what a modern education system should be.

Will Athenry every forget the extraordinary scenes of celebration and jubilation when special trains arrived home to be saluted by the Primary School Band and those All Ireland School winning Camogie Teams being escorted through the town while at the same time the boys losing out so narrowly in their All Ireland efforts?   Could we dare to say that those years of sporting activity and its successes, totally supported by the Sisters and teachers prefigured and were the seeds of later triumphs and celebrations by Athenry parish teams themselves?

Pope John XXX111 opened up the windows in the sixties and by so doing a new era dawned within religious communities.   The Presentation Congregation adapted to the changes and new challenges.  The old habit gone and now in new attire, Athenry Sisters moved outwards in community service and pastoral care.  In those years of the mid-seventies onwards, unheralded and oftentimes hidden from public view the untiring efforts, physical presence and support for the now new Community Care, Meals on Wheels, Service to the Old, and St. Vincent de Paul, Travellers Support became a very welcome and rewarding part of Athenry Sisters’ mission.

The then Community Council had a fund raising potato project but unfortunately the weather was very unkind at harvest time.  I well remember the extraordinary response of people to the Altar Appeal for potato pickers and there among them in the potato field on that Sunday were three Presentation Sisters in full religious garb.

1975 Athenry Church Choir on an outing to Kylemore Abbey.

Front, l-r : Charles Meehan, Noreen Cunny, Nora Byrne, Kathleen Quinn, Sr. Evelyn Geraghty, Derek Kennedy, Sr. Laura O’Boyle, Patricia Kelly, Ena O’Grady and Austin Cunney.  Back, l-r: Maeve Rooney, Carmel Farragher and Hillary Duddy.

Photo: Sr. Laura Boyle

It would be ungracious when recalling the contribution of Athenry’s Presentation Sisters to overlook their involvement and active participation in the public worship of God’s people.  The magnificent choir of those years, so ably directed by the very unassuming Sr. Evelyn and continued on by other Sisters, the annual celebration of First Communions and Confirmations and their attention to the Altar and Church needs.   Later on came the opening out of their own chapel for the people’s desire for quiet Eucharistic Adoration.

Finally, what does the local parish community owe to the Sisters for making their multi- purpose Sports Hall available for the various musical, dramatic and sporting needs? A magnificent facility indeed! In taking a broad overview of the presence and involvement of the Sisters in the life of Athenry’s people, I could not omit to refer to their contribution especially in the field of Religious Education throughout the Diocese.  Through the Seventies and well into the Eighties, Religious Education programmes were undergoing enormous changes.   A uniform programme for Second Level schools was almost non-existent.  In this diocese, we gratefully acknowledge the detailed planning and regular support meetings for teachers of religion and catechists in our various schools, provided by Sr. Genevieve who personally attended and presented a systemised programme at these regular monthly meetings.  This again highlighted for me the commitment of Presentation Sisters to serve God’s people after the way set out by their founder, Nano Nagle. For me, two words sum up the past in the life and work of Presentation Athenry  – Deireadh Ré.

1979-Memories of the visit of Pope John Paul 2 to Galway from Sr. Mary Rossiter

There was something in the air those days – a sense of unity, of calm, of being part of something very special and unique. I was the youngest sister in the Presentation Convent at that time and so I joined the other young people of Athenry Parish on the journey to Ballybrit racecourse. We had met in preparation for the event, getting to know each other and planning. The day was dry and cool but we did not notice as we filed into the buses to make the relatively short journey to the race course.  It was very early and, although we were excited, we were sleepy.  We carried our small stools or sleeping bags to make ourselves as comfortable as possible as we waited…

We were in one of the ground sections along with other parishes of the Tuam Archdiocese, facing the stands where it seemed to us all from Northern Ireland were based.  The racecourse was transformed into an area of colour, with all the various banners and flags.  Everyone was in the best of good humour and we all waited patiently for the arrival of the special guest.  As we waited we talked, shared our food parcels, laughed and sang.  Sitting around in groups and keeping each other alert and watchful.   When the helicopter appeared in the Galway sky, the crowd erupted into song and clapping, led by Bishop Eamonn Casey and Fr. Michael Cleary.  But that was only a glimpse of what the crowd was capable of ….as later during the Pope’s sermon we all heard his declaration of love for the young people of Ireland and the crowd took off in song and cheer.

Looking back now (almost 30 years later) I can still in my memory hear that roar and the feeling that those words were meant for each one of us personally. He came among us in the special pope mobile and again we cheered and clapped.   All too soon we were told he had to go, his presence at the Marian shrine at Knock was eagerly awaited.  Again we sang and cheered as the helicopter took off to make the journey from Ballybrit to Knock.

It took us hours to get back to base as traffic blocked all the roads. Yes, we were weary and very tired but we were all aware of being part of something very special and unique and later, as we together watched the recordings of the event, we could all say with joy, I was glad to have been there .    

The 1979 Silver Jubilees of Sr. Genevieve Kilbane and Sr, Bríd Brennan

L-r: Fr. John. D. Flannery C.C., Fr. Gerry Reynolds C.S.S.R., Sr. Genevieve Kilbane,

Canon James Gibbons P.P., Sr. Bríd Brennan, Fr. Joe Tronson C.S.S.R. and Fr. Charles O’Malley C.C.

The Horarium-more changes in the 1980s

A new Constitution was introduced and this provided the nuns with guidelines for a more adaptable, humane and integrated life with the people among whom the nuns worked.

There would be more consultation regarding choice of ministries and blind obedience was replaced with discernment.

Flexible Community structures were chosen to serve their mission and the structures of government at each level ensured the right of each Sister to participate in seeking God’s will and exercising responsibility in her life and work.

There was a move from all Sisters on retreat together to Sisters choosing their own Retreat and venue.

As regards holidays, each sister now had the choice of taking individual holidays.

In financial matters, communities budgeted for things instead of asking for personal needs.

The 1980 Silver Jubilee of Sr. Katherine Burke.

L-r:  Fr. Seán Moore, Sr.Genevieve Kilbane, Sr. Katherine Burke, Sr. Mary Fahy   and Fr. John D. Flannery C.C.

The 1981 Silver Jubilee of Sr. Mary McDermott.

L-r: Sr. Genevieve Kilbane, Sr. Evelyn Geraghty, Sr. Mary McDermott, Sr. Angelina Kilbane and Sr. Philomena Noone.

Sr. Mary McDermott’s memories of her 1981 Silver Jubilee in Athenry

My Community Sisters, Priests and Family were involved in the organisation of the celebrations: the preparation of the Liturgy and the making of the cake. The Jubilee Mass was celebrated in the Presentation Convent Chapel, Athenry by Canon J. Gibbons P.P. The concelebrants were Fr. C. O’Malley and Fr. J. Flannery. The servers were my nephews; Suzanne, my niece and godchild, brought up the gifts. Suzanne had made her First Communion shortly beforehand and came in her First Holy Communion outfit. By a strange coincidence in 2006 she was married two weeks after my Golden Jubilee. On reflection of that special occasion, I realise how blest I was to be a Religious with opportunities for prayer and service to the children I had taught in Headford, Athenry and Achill, and also to be part of the local Christian community in those parishes e.g. First Communion in Headford, Prayer Group in Athenry and parish organisations in Achill.

1982- Fr. Martin Coen reflected on the Openness of Athenry Presentation Convent

About five years ago, during a retreat in AthenryCollege, I asked which parts of the Convent were out of bounds. I was pleased to be told that it was an open access building, apart from the upstairs area reserved for elderly nuns.

This proved what the eye saw: the front door was open; there was a push-in door to the office and at the back there was free access to the school. Students could be met in various parts of the building, some man was discussing a problem with a Sister in the hallway, a lady was having a quiet hospitable cup in the kitchen, the retreat priests were in the nuns’ refectory and there was quiet traffic.

It was the first open convent I had seen, it was at the service of the world, open to all, generous and prepared to risk.

Source: P.C.A .‘Beginnings’ magazine, May 1982.

The 1983 Silver Jubilee of Sr. Alphonsus  Allen with Mons. M. Mooney P.P.

1985 Presentation Youth Festival in Athenry by Sr. Kevin Curran

To commemorate International Youth year 1985, a  Presentation Youth Festival, based on the Theme ‘Youth, Builders of Peace’, a gathering of young people and the young at heart, to celebrate life, to celebrate the gifts and talents of youth and to reflect the theme of the International Youth Year, was held in Athenry from July 5 th to 7 th 1985.

In February 1985, Athenry was chosen as the venue, when, at a public meeting called by the Presentation Sisters, the people of Athenry very kindly agreed to host the event. They would welcome the young people from all over the country, accommodate them in their homes and carry the responsibility for the entire organisation of events. The youth festival was on!

Friday evening, July 5 th .

Buses and coaches began to arrive at the Mart, where offices for registration were made available. Groups were met by the young people of Athenry and were given names and addresses of hosting families. Led by the Galway Pipe band, a very colourful parade took place to the Presentation Centre. Sr. Lucy Troy welcomed the visitors, a torch was lit and placed on the roof and a service of Light was held. The visitors were met by their hosts and all enjoyed an evening of music and dance.

Saturday, July 6 th

The young people were involved in workshops on Relationships, Drugs, Leisure, Drama, Music, Employment, C.N.D., Art, Third World, an Athenry Walk About and Fun Sports. Saturday night’s concert and disco afforded enjoyment to all.

Sunday, July 7 th

The Archbishop of Tuam, Dr. Joseph Cunnane, presided at concelebrated mass in Athenry church. Fr. Colm Kilcoyne was chief celebrant and the music and liturgical dance was organised by Fr. William Purcell of the Ossary diocese. After lunch the visitors set off home. Judging by the cards, letters and appreciation, which the Athenry people received from them, they carried with them many happy memories of the Presentation Festival.

Letters of Appreciation. Date: 1985

I personally would like to thank you for the memorable weekend. I never thought that a small place like Athenry could hold such a great and warm atmosphere, where so many people came together in prayer and have such a great time.

M. McCormack

For me, the Mass was the most beautiful and most touching that I’ve ever experienced. In future I hope such ‘love’ and ‘care’ will go into all Masses as this one did.

Siobhán Corrigan.

On behalf of the Mullingar boys, I would like to thank all the Athenry people for the beautiful weekend, and we hope that there will be another of the same kind in the near future.

For me, Athenry will stay in my memory forever. I never felt so close to God in such a celebrating way. It was so nice to mix with the nuns and priests in such an informal way.

Edel Millar.

I was most touched by my stay in Athenry. The people were so warm, and tried to help us in everyway they could. I hope that sometime in my life that I will return and see you all.

Ruth Nugent.

The 1987 Silver Jubilee of Sr. Ann Pender

L-R: Sr. Colette Dolan, Sr. Mary Caulfield, Sr. Ann Pender and Sr. Alphonsus Allen

Loreto Cashin’s memories of the Convent in 1988/90

There was a warm welcome in the community and there were signs of Vatican 1 and 11. Some nuns were wearing traditional habits while others were making a habit out of civvies!  Sr. Leo Hackett was the Superior in the Convent at the time and was involved in the Day Care Centre for the elderly. The retired Sisters: Eugenia, Elizabeth and Gabriel Healy’s role was vital – hospitality, prayer, cooking.

Anne Ward assisted with the housekeeping.  Ann was of the travelling Community.   There wasn’t a nun in the Convent who didn’t have the friendship of a traveller.  They were well settled and housed. They held their heritage of the church.   Among their family values, matchmaking was prevalent. The girls, Mary, Nuala, Anna and Jane Ward, who attended my sewing classes were the most successful in marriage

Did it Happen?  A Reflection on her 1994 Silver Jubilee by Sr. Marie Ward

Did it happen or was it a joke? Was it a hoax or did someone say it’s going to happen this year. “Your Jubilee!” I couldn’t be that long around the place. It seems no length ago since I rang the doorbell of the Presentation Convent in Tuam, asked for the mistress of novices and was ushered into the parlour. A tray of tea was put in front of me: I was left to my own musings. I was supposed to be having the tea but I was afraid to touch it. Having been interviewed by the novice mistress, happily thinking that I’m not a suitable candidate at all, I hopped home in the bus.

I was not yet a three year old novice on my holidays in AchillIsland, my cousin came to fetch me home for the three days leave; two community nuns took a ride with us to their convent. In the course of conversation they said how they were ten and eleven years in the congregation. I was thinking to myself that it sounded like nearly a lifetime. Then on the 31st of December 1994 I’m sitting in a meeting of the congregation in Pakistan and I’m thinking it’s going to happen this year-My Silver Jubilee. How fragile is life? How vulnerable we all are? Life is gone in an instant, with no warning at all. The seasons’ winds blew very fast. Where has the time gone I would like to know?

The meeting is over, and one of the group is saying to me that there’s talk of celebrating my jubilee  before we break up .And looking inside my mind I’m quite sure I don’t feel like a Jubilarian. So pondering the thought and wondering if I could rise to the occasion so far away from kith and kin. It was my first time in a Chinese Restaurant; I felt that this was too extravagant- but lo and behold it didn’t take long to develop a taste for spring rolls and chicken-fried rice.

As I look back upon the years and reflect on what I see, a flurry of mixed emotions rush inside me. The good seems great indeed, yet there’s an element, a feeling that I didn’t always do my best. My heart is like a sailing boat. Sometimes I didn’t know what course I should take and I fought against the powerful winds where I struggled to live in tempestuous times. Through faith, endurance, integrity and toil I endeavoured to be a beacon of light in the darkness.

What happy times I had too in those 25 years! Time passes too quickly to enjoy and appreciate the blessings of the present. For the day is approaching and memories will be all that I’ll have left. For now I find that it is the autumn of life for me. And I wonder what does the future hold?  If nothing else, just happiness.

I’ll finish with a quantum reflection from Thich Nhat Hanh:

“I am creating my day. I am affecting the Quantum Field. If you are watching me while I am doing this, show me a sign to-day that you paid attention to any of the things I have created. And bring them to me in a way I won’t expect. Let me be surprised by my ability to recognise these things and make it so that I have no doubt that the sign has come from you.”    

Athenry Presentation Sister in 2000

Front, l-r: Sr. Mary McDonagh, Sr. Elizabeth Connolly, Sr. Rose Wright and Sr. Bernadette Kearney . Middle, l-r: Sr. Eugenia Murphy and Sr. Teresa Gilligan .

Back, l-r: Sr. Collette Dolan, Sr. Kevin Curran, Sr. Gabriel Healy, Sr. Benignus Flannagan, Sr. Leo Hackett, Sr. Alphonusus Allen, and Sr. Kathleen Collison.

Convent Hospitality and the ‘White Table’-Fr. John O’Gorman C.C., 1997-2004

On a January day in 1908 the Sisters arrived from Tuam and got a Céad Míle Fáilte from the people of Athenry. On a July day in 1997, almost 90 years later, the new Curate came from Tuam via Claremorris, and this time it was the Sisters who gave the first Céad Míle Fáilte. The night was late when the phone rang and the Sister said, ‘You’re welcome, Father John, your name is in the pot!’ Having spent the night and next morning sorting out boxes, the ‘Mercy Boy’ decided to try the ‘pot’. After an exchange of welcomes, I was offered the ‘dining room’ or the ‘white table’. Used to dining rooms, I opted for the ‘white table’, and for my seven years in Athenry, it was my salvation.

Convents are known for their dining rooms, good food and hospitality. Athenry was no exception to this but the ‘white table’ was then to me the heart of the convent. The Chapel, the Community Room, the Dining Room were all places of importance, but the ‘white table’ will always remain as a  fond memory It was here at the ‘white table’ that you really met these women who followed the rule of Nano. Here the stories of our lives are told: the joys and sorrows we shared, learning who needed a prayer or who needed to be ‘sorted’ out. Here I learned that laughter is the best medicine and should be taken as often as possible, that we are but passing through and to be true to oneself.

Sunday lunch in the dining room, jubilees, feast days, birthdays, farewells, Holy Saturday nights, Christmas and Presentation days, masses, funerals, Lenten prayer evenings and many other great gatherings were examples of great Presentation hospitality experienced by a ‘Mercy Boy on the turn’. The hours that were spent at the ‘white table’ are to me the best hours of the 100 years of the Sisters in Athenry.

The 2006 Golden Jubilee of Sr. Mary McDermott

L-r: Sr. Nano Brennan, Sr. Mary McDermott holding her grandniece, Grace, and Sr.  Evelyn Geraghty

Sr. Mary McDermott’s memories of her 2006 Golden Jubilee

My feelings and thoughts were of profound joy and gratitude for all the graces, opportunities on the day and challenges of my fifty years as a Presentation Sister. It was a celebration enjoyed by the eighty plus who attended. I was so glad to have people who had been part of my life from Primary and Secondary School; friends as well as Sisters from every community where we had lived together in Tuam, Athenry, Achill, Headford and Lucan, as well as co-workers at the Daisyhouse Housing Association and parishioners from Lucan parish where I had worked as a parish pastoral associate for eights years.   These with my family, my brothers Paddy and Bosco and their wives and children and grandchildren and some in-laws have been the people who carried me along over the years.

Cnámha mo Scéil – Sr. Caitríona Ní Chonchúir

Rugadh agus tógadh mé i bparóiste ársa, stairiúil Anach Cuain ar bhruach Loch Coirib.   Is iomaí duine a chuala trácht ar Anach Cuain de bharr dán Raiftéirí a choinnigh cuimhne na daoine buan a báthadh i Mean Fomhair 1828, agus iad ar a mbealach go dtí aonach i nGaillimh. Nuair a chríochnaigh mé leis an mbunscoil d’fhreastail mé ar Mhean Scoil na Toirbhirte i nGaillimh.   Taréis scathaimh sa scoil sin thosaíos ar machnamh.   Spreagadh suim  ionam sa bheatha cráifeach.   Léigh mé faoi saol Nano Nagle.   Chuaigh a saol agus saol na Siúracha sa scoil i nGaillimh i gcionn orm.

Sa bhliain 1965 bhí an ‘glaoch ó Dhia’ níos láidre agus thosaigh mé mar ‘phrintíseach´i gClochar na Toirbhirte.    Is mór idir ‘inné agus inniu´agus is mór idir an saol sa chlochar ag an am sin agus saol an lae inniú.   Bhí rialacha docht i bhfeidhm ag an am, ó thaobh an caidreamh a bhí ag mná rialta leis an ‘saol amuigh’ mar a tugadh air, ach tríd is tríd bhí mé sona sásta ionam féin.   Níorbh fhada gur tháinig athruithe móra ar na rialacha ach sin scéal eile. Arais go dtí m’aistear féin.    Oileadh mé mar mhuinteór mheanscoile in Ollscoil na Gaillimhe.    Chaitheas cúpla blain ag múineadh sa scoil i nGaillimh ‘mo shean scoil’.   Bhí bá faoi leith agam leis an scoil sin.

Ansin i 1976 cuireadh tús le ceangal nó aontacht idir cuallachtaí na Toirbhirte ar fud na hÉireann agus ar fud an domhain. Sa bhlian 1977 thosaigh mé ag múineadh in Uarán Mór – scoil measctha.    Chaitheas seacht mbiana déag aoibhinn ann. I Cill Choca i gCill Dara an chéad stad eile.  Scoil mór agus cé gurbh é seo an chéad uair agam cónaí agus obair in Oirthear na tire cuireadh fíorchaoin fáilte romham.

I 1998 mhothaigh mé go raibh sé in am dom sos (Sabbatical) a thógáil.  Chaith mé cúpla mí i Meiriceá.    Ba athnuachain pearsanta iontach é an tréimhse a chaith mé ansin. Ag  deireadh an chúrsa agus ar teacht arais go hEirinn dom ‘seoladh’ mé go dtí Mhuine Bheag i gCeatharlach.   Chaitheas cúpla bliain sona sa chuallacht sin ag múineadh sa Mheán Scoil.

De réir mar a bhí an t-am ag dul thart musclaíodh mian ionam éirí as múineadh agus dul i ngleic le obair éigin eile.   Ag an am seo fuair mé deis dul go Huddersfield i Sasana.   Tá Siúracha na Toirbhirte ansin ó thart ar 1970.   Ar aghaidh liom go Huddersfield.   Is ansin a bhain mé an-tairbhe agus taitneamh as bheith ag obair i measc na nÉireannach a bhí scaipthe i gcúig paróiste –   daoine a d’fhág an tír seo blianta ó shin chun chur fútha in Huddersfield go mórmhór muintir na Gaeltachta ó Iarthar na hEireann.   Nárbh iontach a bheith in ann caidreamh leo i nGaeilge agus i mBéarla i gceartlár Huddersfield.   Chuireadar fáilte agus fiche romham. Bhí an creideamh agus an ghaeilge go láidir ina measc.  Bhí aiféal orm iad a fhágaint ach beidh cuimhne agam go deo ortha agus on tionchar a bhí acu orm.

Táim anois taréis dhá bhliain a chaitheamh anois anseo i mBaile Atha an Rí agus is áil liom bheith arais ar scoil arís agus seans agam an dá rud is ansa liom a mhúineadh – Gaeilge and Creideamh.

The Convent 1988-2008-Sister Leo

In July 1988 our Convent in Keel, Achill was changed into a Day Care Centre under the Western Health Board, so I was appointed to Athenry.  There being no vacancy in Scoil Chroí Naofa at the time, I was invited by the late Monsignor Mooney to work in the Parish. So began my years with Athenry Social Services – working with the elderly, delivering meals on wheels, bringing Holy Communion weekly to the sick and house-bound. That was a truly rewarding ministry. I joined the local ‘Soilse’ group in 1998 – friends of people with special needs.

Our Community here was a group of nine – three of whom were retired, whose hospitality and friendship made a big difference to those of us whose ministries took us out of the Convent for most of the day. In 1990 with the advice of our priests, we decided to open our Chapel (left) to the public – Since then Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament has continued there every week – Thursday to Sunday from 10a.m. to 9p.m. Our schools at this time had lay Principals who continue to promote Presentation values.  Being on the Board of Management of both schools and having a class for Religion in the College kept me in touch with the Education scene.

The founding in 1990 of the Nano Nagle pre-school for the children of traveller families was special, as I was aware from previous experience of the benefits of such a school.  As it closes its doors this year, 2008, some of those who began there are now in third level colleges – We are proud of their achievements. 1994 saw many changes in our Province.  As Convents closed, four retired sisters joined us in Athenry.  Some structural changes were necessary to accommodate the bigger group.  Sadly, only three years later, death claimed Sr. Monica Mooney and since then six other sisters have died – those have been difficult years. 

The unexpected death of Sr. Colette Dolan was very sad indeed.  Her memory lives on here – she is still talked about in Scoil Chroí Naofa and in Athenry town where her kindness is not forgotten.

I pray that all those Sisters who touched our lives and contributed so much to our Community may look after us into the unknown future.

Celebrating the Centenary of the Presentation Sisters in Athenry 1908-2008

Sisters at their Centenary Mass in the Convent Chapel on 2 nd of January 2008

Seated, l-r: Sr. Mary O’Regan, Sr. Kevin Curran and Sr. Teresa Gilligan.

Second Row, l-r: Canon Tony King P.P., Sr. Alphonsus Allen, Sr. Mary McDonagh, Sr. Marie Ward, Community Leader, Sr. Evelyn Geraghty and Sr. Maureen Geraty.

Back, l-r: Sr. Catherine O’Connor, Sr. Leo Hackett, Sr. Martina Morris and Fr. Charles McDonnell C.C.

The Athenry Parish Centenary Mass in the Church of the Assumption  on the 23 rd of May 2008

Archbishop Michael Neary’s  Homily for the Celebration of the Centenary of the Presentation Sisters in Athenry

I welcome you all to our celebration this evening.   I join with the Parish Priest, Canon Tony King, Fr. Charlie and all the priests who served here in extending a very warm welcome to the Provincial, Sr. Elizabeth Maxwell and the Presentation Sisters here in Athenry, and all the Sisters who have joined us from elsewhere, to the Board of Management, staff and pupils, past and present of the Presentation Schools.   The primary aspect of our celebration is to express our gratitude to the Presentation Sisters for what they have done, what they meant and what they continue to mean to the people of Athenry and the surrounding area for the past 100 years.  It is often said, as a kind of telling joke, that if you have to ask the price of your meal you shouldn’t be in the restaurant.   I call this joke “telling” because it contains truth that has less to do with snobbish fashion than with the hard realities of living.  The ability to read the damage without flinching, to pay up without complaint, may be more than mere bravado and the will to cut a dash.  It is rooted in a philosophy which acknowledges that this world sets prices on things.

In 1834 John McHale became Archbishop of Tuam and the following year he invited the Presentation Sisters to the diocese.   Recognising the urgent need to provide for the education of the children of the parish, Canon Canton, (another Castlebar man) the Parish Priest of Athenry, acknowledging the important role which the Presentation Sisters could play in this regard, invited them to Athenry.

On the 2 nd January 1908 four Sisters from the Presentation Convent in Tuam came to establish a new foundation in Athenry.   This was a very radical move as the Sisters were bound by the laws of “enclosure” and were unaccustomed to being outside their convent.   For them it was a courageous step in faith into the unknown.   Writing to the Reverend Mother in Tuam, Canon Canton spoke of his delight at the presence of the Sisters for the sake of the Catholic education of the children of Athenry.   His opening sentence conveys the deep sense of gratitude: “Thanks and praise to God for His great mercy and favours to Athenry.   I did draw a long breath of relief when after Mass today, I realised that Athenry had a convent and the nuns were actually installed”.   This was the beginning of the special relationship between the people of Athenry and the Presentation Sisters.   The Parish Priest, Canon Canton, made the Parochial House, the present Presentation Convent, available to them and rented a house until the present St. Mary’s was built later in that year.

The Sisters hit the ground running; a year after their arrival the number of pupils began to increase dramatically and three more Sisters were sent from Tuam to assist in the school.

A new primary school was built in 1910 with 300 pupils enrolling the first day, costing £690.00   In the 1920s the Sisters began to provide intermediate education for senior classes in Primary School and in 1950 a Secondary School for about 100 girls was opened.  At the request of the people of Athenry this school became co-educational in 1964.

In the aftermath of Vatican 11 the lifting of the rule of enclosure enabled the Sisters to go out among the people, visit the sick and housebound thereby reinforcing a friendship already well established over the years.   In 1964 co-education was introduced and hurling, camogie, musicals and debating societies began to flourish.   1980 and 1981 saw the erection of a new Primary and Post-PrimarySchool on Presentation grounds.

Forty years ago in 1968 Sr. Brid Brennan was appointed Principal.  With the advent of the free education scheme and free transport the number of pupils increased dramatically.  Twenty years ago the first lay Principal, Gilbert McCarthy was appointed and served until his retirement in 2004.  That year Mary Forde was appointed Principal. A key component of the Presentation approach to education has always been a great pastoral sensitivity.   Long before the Department of Education set up the institution of home-school liaison, the Presentation Sisters were in very close and constant contact with the families and homes of their pupils.   Today there is only one Presentation Sister on the staff of either the Primary and Post-Primary schools in Athenry, nevertheless through them and through the professional and compassionate Principals, Mary Forde and Teresa Neylon and the dedicated staffs, the Presentation ethos continues in a very powerful way and for that we are all most grateful.

As a young priest I was appointed to teach in PresentationCollege in Head ford.  It was clear at that time that Athenry had an extraordinary influence on other Presentation Schools in our Archdiocese.   It seemed to be regarded as the reference point.   Sisters who had served in Athenry and had come to Headword were never slow to quote Athenry as a precedent and a practical application.   Understandably at times this caused raised eyebrows.  

It was during my time in Headford, however, that I was made conscious of a deep-seated and determined dedication of the Presentation Sisters to the work of education.   Underpinning this professionalism and care for their pupils was an unswerving loyalty and an unfaltering faith.   Their courage was nothing short of heroic and found expression in the face of often intimidating odds.   In so many ways they have contributed immeasurably to the formation of the modern prosperous town that is now Athenry.   In my foreword to Fr. Kieran Waldron’s excellent book on education in the Archdiocese of Tuam, I said that “this is nothing less than the story of visionary pioneers”.  

These Sisters were prepared to put everything on the line in their determination to make hope a concrete thing and make dreams come true.   It was a situation which might have broken smaller people, but many of those who took up the challenge were giant-hearted indeed.  The products of a hard world, they took that same world on with a physical, intellectual and above all, spiritual toughness which, at a price, produced results.   The price, in terms of back-breaking work and endless worry, was one these remarkable Sisters could and did pay.

The Presentation Sisters in our Archdiocese and here in Athenry were such stock.   Education doesn’t materialise merely from hopes, still less from idle wishing.  But the hopes and wishes of good and determined people can be terrible in their beauty and effectiveness. 

These daughters of Nano Nagle built up their schools and showed generations of students how a dream can became a reality.  They showed that the price of what we want need not break us if we have faith in the God who has already paid the price for all of our betrayals and all our failures.   They taught this in the classroom day in and day out.   More importantly they taught it in the living examples of their lives.

What makes people give their lives for work like this?

Acknowledging that their contribution through the years will predominantly be remembered in terms of education, they also extend it through social work and pastoral care for all sectors of the community and particularly for the poor and the needy.  

Today we live in a society which holds wealth and worldly attainment in remarkable respect.   Gradually, indeed over the last thirty years or so, this society has ceased to pay anything but lip-service to the ancient and socially crucial virtues of love, honour and self-sacrifice.  

In such an atmosphere, having as it does a powerful and insidious effect on the young, it has become exceptionally difficult to explain something as profoundly human as the Presentation Sisters.   I emphasised the humanity of their charism not because I wish for one moment to deny what I regard as its divine origin but because it is precisely this startling God-gifted humanity which is so repulsive to many now.

I am convinced that history will regard the work of the Presentation Sisters as crucial:  crucial to national survival in its fullest sense and crucial to national development.   Crucial even, perhaps, to the ultimate emergence of Ireland into the modern, prosperous, self-confident nation of which the Presentation Sisters are almost invariably so proud.

The work of the Presentation Sisters in this regard was monumental and heroic.   In many ways they had to make others aware of the importance of education.   Outside the classroom they became involved in pastoral work, visiting homes, bringing comfort and consolation to the lonely and forgotten.  

On a personal note I would like to acknowledge the warm welcome, the hospitality and support which I have always received from the Presentation Sisters here in Athenry and indeed elsewhere throughout the Archdiocese.

On this centenary of your coming to Athenry, we express our heartfelt congratulations and deep appreciation of who you are, what you mean to all of us and the values for which you stand. What Athenry has become today, the vibrant and confident community is due in large measure to the hard work, the vision and dedication of the Presentation Sisters and all those who worked with them to provide the infrastructure for what we now enjoy.

 This evening we thank God for the countless ways He has blessed us through the Presentation Sisters here in Athenry.

The Athenry Parish Centenary Mass in the Church of the Assumption

Canon Tony King P.P., Fr. Charles McDonnell C.C., Clergy and Priests who served in Athenry Parish

   Present and Past members of the Presentation Convent Community, Athenry

The Celebration Dinner in the Raheen Woods Hotel on 23 rd of May 2008

Sr. Marie Ward, Community Leader, cutting the Centenary Cake

  Sr. Elizabeth Maxwell, Provincial of the Presentation Order

Sr. Maura Twohig, Ned Waldron, Sr. Bríd Brennan       

Eileen Lyons and Mary Ryan          

Address of welcome by Sr. Mary Kenny, Assistant Provincial of the Presentation Order to President Mary MacAleese on the occasion of her visit to the Athenry Presentation Sisters to unveil their Centenary Commemorative Plaque on the 30th of October 2008

  A Uachtaráin, Your Excellency,

It is my privilege, on behalf of the Presentation Sisters, to welcome you here today. We are commemorating 100 years of Presentation in Athenry. We are celebrating four valiant women who came here in 1908 and all the sisters who have lived and worked here since-one of whom, Sr. Teresa Conway, died last week.

 We are also celebrating and thanking God for all the people of Athenry and farther afield who have worked alongside us over the years-the people of the town here who were with us through thick and thin, the teachers in the primary and secondary schools, the Boards of Management, Parents’ Councils, our past pupils, present students, the chaplains and clergy who were always our friends. All of those people, and indeed many more, have enriched our lives and they have been a blessing on us.

We are here because of one woman’s dream-Nano Nagle, our foundress, who at a time of suppression and depression in our country carried the light of hope through her vision and her commitment. We and all our co-workers carry her vision and her dream today and especially now in time of recession and pain for many people.Táimid fíor bhuíoch díot, a Uachtaráin, as ucht a theacht in ár measc chun ceiliúradh linn. Guím beannacht Dé ort féin, ar d’fear chéile, Martin, ar do mhuintir agus ar do chuid oibre.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh ar fad.

The Convent before the arrival of the President        

 Fr. Charles McDonnell welcomed the President        

                                    President MacAleese and her husband, Dr. Martin MacAleese  after the unveiled the Centenary Commemorative Plaque

Guard of Honour by Scoil Chroí Naofa Pupils

Presentation Sisters and members of the Athenry Community

Ned Waldron, Micheál Quinn & Fr. McDonnell

President Mary MacAleese with the Presentation Sisters, Athenry (30-10-2008)

Seated, l-r : Sr. Mary Kenny, Assistant Provincial of the Presentation Order, Sr. Kevin Curran, President of Ireland, Mary MacAleese, Dr. Martin MacAleese and Sr.Teresa Gilligan. Standing, l-r : Sr. Maureen Geraty, Sr. Catherine O’Connor, Sr. Leo Hackett, Sr. Evelyn Geraghty, Sr. Mary O’Regan, Sr. Alphonsus Allen, Sr. Mary McDonagh, Sr. Martina Morris, Sr. Ena Canny, Sr. Marie Ward, Community Leader and Canon Tony King P.P.

  Photos: Gerry Ahern

PRESENTATION SISTERS WHO LIVED AND MINISTERED IN ATHENRY AND HAVE DIED

Convent Superiors

1908-1924        Sr. Catherine Storey

1924-1945        Sr. Ignatius Diskin

1946-1954        Sr. Magdalen Costello

1955-1971        Sr. Baptist Kelly/Sr. Berchmans Duggan 

1972-1977        Sr. Nuala Newell

1977-1982        Sr. Genevieve Kilbane

1982-1989        Sr. Kevin Curran

1989-1997        Sr. Leo Hackett

1997-2003        Sr. Mary McDonagh

2003-2006        Sr. Leo Hackett

2006-               Sr. Marie Ward

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Ex-Chelsea captain Terry feeling fittest for a decade ahead of reported Spartak Moscow move

SoccerNews in General Soccer News 8 Sep 2018

Former Chelsea captain John Terry claims he feels fitter than he has for much of the last decade amid reports he is set to sign for Spartak Moscow.

The 37-year-old has been without a club since leaving Aston Villa after their defeat in the Championship play-off final to Fulham at the end of last season.

Terry had been tipped to return to Villa Park and admits he has “unfinished business” at the club, but the latest reports suggest he has travelled to Russia to undergo a medical with Spartak.

The ex-England centre-back insists he is still hungry for more success and has no concerns about his fitness, just three months out from his 38th birthday.

“I loved my time at Aston Villa. I am still devastated that we didn’t go up,” he told the Daily Mail. “The manager, players and supporters were incredible with me but I hate losing and I feel there is unfinished business there.

“Steve Bruce is a great man and with the backing of the new owners, Steve will hopefully get the club back into the Premier League.

“Don’t get me wrong, if I don’t play again I am content with what has been an unbelievable career, but I’m still hungry to go and play if everything around it is right. If it’s right for me and my family.

“I am in the best condition I have been in for the last eight to 10 years of my career. I’ve had a brilliant summer, the first time in 20 years I have been able to get away like that with my family during the school holidays. I was away so much last year because I was fully committed to giving everything to Aston Villa, but now I am fully recharged.”

Spartak, who finished third in Russia’s top flight last season, will compete in the 2018-19 Europa League.

        View this post on Instagram                   Portugal it’s been a pleasure  We as a family love your beautiful country  Amazing family holiday @toniterry26 @georgie26terry @sum26terry  A post shared by John Terry (@johnterry.26) on Sep 2, 2018 at 11:21am PDT

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Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin . Made by Irina Lipenko teacher Irina M.Uskova Zelenograd Moscow

Aug 09, 2014

50 likes | 233 Views

Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin . Made by Irina Lipenko teacher Irina M.Uskova Zelenograd Moscow. 1799-1837. Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin was born on May the twenty sixth , 1799 in Moscow.

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• irina m uskovazelenograd moscow
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AleksandrSergeevich Pushkin.Made by Irina Lipenkoteacher Irina M.UskovaZelenograd Moscow 1799-1837.

AleksandrSergeevich Pushkin was born on May the twenty sixth,1799 in Moscow.

His mother was NadegdaOsipovna.He lived with his nurse ArinaRadionovna.He loved her very much and dedicated poems to her.

My favouritepoem is «Ruslan andLudmila»; «Village».Some of themost popular films are based on his novels and poems such as «Dubrovsky»; «Tale of the Priest and of his Workman Balda»,«The Tales of Belkin».

Aleksandr Pushkin died in 1837 in a duel.His work lives foreverand each new generation will spend time enjoying poems, songs, films and cartoons based on the works of Pushkin.

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