'The Leader of the Virgin Choirs of Erin': St Brigid's Missionary College, 1883-1914

Colin Barr, Rose Lynn Luminiello

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract

In the first years of the twentieth century, on the feast day of St Francis, a ‘grand’ stuffed beaver arrived at the Convent of Mercy in Callan, Co. Kilkenny. It was not a particularly unusual gift: like many others, the sender had been an ‘aspirant’ at St Brigid’s Missionary College, which was attached to the convent. Now a Sister of Mercy in St John’s, Newfoundland, no doubt she wanted to show off her new home to her old school. So many such gifts had arrived, the mother superior told her uncle, Cardinal Patrick Francis Moran of Sydney, Australia, that they would have to ‘enlarge the museum cases’.1 ‘Far and wide’, another former aspirant wrote in 1898, ‘are St. Brigid’s children scattered in widely different latitudes, in far-away settlements at the goldfields, across the prairies, and under Indian suns, members of more than a dozen Religious Orders, each with its own special work of corporal or spiritual Mercy’.2 This was not an exaggeration: although not all persevered in their vocation, and not all who did left Ireland, between 1883 and its closure in the mid-1950s, some 2000 women entered St Brigid’s Missionary College with a view to service in Ireland’s spiritual empire.3
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIreland in an Imperial World
EditorsTimothy McMahon, Michael DeNie, Paul Townend
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages155-178
Number of pages24
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-137-59637-6
ISBN (Print)978-1-137-59636-9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Apr 2017

Publication series

NameCambridge Imperial & Post-Colonial Studies
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan

Fingerprint

Missionaries
Convents
Mercy
Ireland
Gift
Vocation
Feast
Kilkenny
Beaver
1950s
Newfoundland
Sister
Religious Orders
Closure
Old School
Prairie

Keywords

  • Irish History
  • Catholic Church
  • Irish diaspora
  • History of Religion
  • Religious Women
  • Imperial History
  • Australia

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Arts and Humanities(all)

Cite this

Barr, C., & Luminiello, R. L. (2017). 'The Leader of the Virgin Choirs of Erin': St Brigid's Missionary College, 1883-1914. In T. McMahon, M. DeNie, & P. Townend (Eds.), Ireland in an Imperial World (pp. 155-178). (Cambridge Imperial & Post-Colonial Studies). London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59637-6_8

'The Leader of the Virgin Choirs of Erin': St Brigid's Missionary College, 1883-1914. / Barr, Colin; Luminiello, Rose Lynn.

Ireland in an Imperial World. ed. / Timothy McMahon; Michael DeNie; Paul Townend. London : Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. p. 155-178 (Cambridge Imperial & Post-Colonial Studies).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Barr, C & Luminiello, RL 2017, 'The Leader of the Virgin Choirs of Erin': St Brigid's Missionary College, 1883-1914. in T McMahon, M DeNie & P Townend (eds), Ireland in an Imperial World. Cambridge Imperial & Post-Colonial Studies, Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 155-178. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59637-6_8
Barr C, Luminiello RL. 'The Leader of the Virgin Choirs of Erin': St Brigid's Missionary College, 1883-1914. In McMahon T, DeNie M, Townend P, editors, Ireland in an Imperial World. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 2017. p. 155-178. (Cambridge Imperial & Post-Colonial Studies). https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59637-6_8
Barr, Colin ; Luminiello, Rose Lynn. / 'The Leader of the Virgin Choirs of Erin': St Brigid's Missionary College, 1883-1914. Ireland in an Imperial World. editor / Timothy McMahon ; Michael DeNie ; Paul Townend. London : Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. pp. 155-178 (Cambridge Imperial & Post-Colonial Studies).
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