Ruadhán Jones
Statue of Nano Nagle leading the way out of darkness which stands at her birth place in Ballygriffin, Co. Cork. As a new exhibition on the founder of the Presentation Sisters opens in Cork, one of the co-creators said Venerable Nano Nagle is “unfairly overlooked” today.
The Irish nun “dedicated her adult life trying to educate as many children as she could, to give them the best chance at having a better life”, Jessie Castle said.
Ms Castle, who along with historian Gillian O’Brien wrote the ‘Changing Habits’ exhibition in the Nano Nagle centre, Cork, called the nun a “trailblazer”.
“She made a huge contribution both as a religious and non-religious woman,” Ms Castle continued. “She deserves national recognition, as a particularly outstanding woman in the period she lived.
“Look at the number of schools and convent schools that came from that first one in Cork – it’s really remarkable that this came from the work of one woman.”
Ms Castle described Nano Nagle as a “strong-willed” and “independent” woman, who used her wealth for the benefit of the poor.
“She was well educated and from a wealthy family, so she had some confidence in what she was doing,” she continued. “But she wasn’t typical of a woman of that era or class.
“She was extremely outspoken and independent, and decided to use her wealth for good causes, especially education.”
Using her own money, Nano Nagle built two convents and founded the Presentation order specifically to educate poorer children.
“She worked, she used money for what she decided to use it for, she had her own house on Douglas Street, her own affairs and effectively her own business,” Ms Castle explained.
“Even when things didn’t go right, she got on with it. Even when she ran out of money, she worked her contacts, she begged and borrowed to carry on.”
For more information on the Changing Habits exhibition, visit https://nanonagleplace.ie/nanoevents/changing-habits-250-years-of-covent-life/