 | Who Was Nano Nagle? Nano (Honoria) Nagle was born in Ballygriffin,
Country Cork, Ireland in 1718. She was the founder of
the Presentation Sisters and pioneer of Catholic
education in Ireland.
Her family were devout Catholics who had managed to
hold on to their land in penal times, when
landownership and education were forbidden to
Catholics. Early Life Nano was educated in Paris and enjoyed an active
social life. The family had relatives in Paris and Nano
lived with them for some years to escape the
persecution of Catholics in her homeland. While
enjoying the social life and the freedom that living in
Paris allowed, Nano maintained a strong faith and
sense of social justice. Between 1746 and 1748 Nano's life was marked by grief.
Having returned to Ireland to be with her family,she
now had to endure the death of both her parents and
her sister Ann. Nano returned to Paris and entered a
convent. During her time in the convent Nano struggled with
the problem of what to do about the poor in Ireland.
Finally Nano decided that she could be of more use to
the poor by actively helping them rather than by
prayer alone. She returned to Cork, Ireland in 1750 to set up the first
of her schools. It was based in Cove Lane and although
Catholic schools were illegal at that time it soon had
several hundred pupils.
Nano's first school was a mud cabin in a very poor part
of town. Nano Nagle spent all of her considerable fortune on
establishing schools for the poor of Cork. In the school
the children were taught to pray, work, read and write. Lady with the Lantern In the evenings after her schools were closed, Nano
was a familiar sight in the city's dark and dangerous
streets, seeking out the hungry, the homeless and the
elderly. With her lantern in hand, she tended to
anyone who was in need, but particularly to destitute
women. Presentation Sisters Nano set up her own sisterhood. It was the first female
religious group in Ireland to combine religious life
with systematic, charitable works.
The religious group of women who has chosen to work
with Nano eventually became the Presentation Sisters
in 1805, Nano died from tuberculosis on April 26th 1783 at the
age of 65
Nano Nagle's grave may be visited in the Presentation
Convent Cemetery in Douglas Street, Co Cork. |
