Foundress of the Sisters of the Presentation

by

Sister Emer Madigan

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Source: The Story of the Presentation Sisters, Scoil Chroi Naofa

and Presentation College, Athenry (1908-2008)

Editor and Compiler: Gerald J. Ahern

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One of the most emotive terms in Irish history is The Penal Laws. Like other terms, the Flight of the Earls, the Battle of the Boyne, the Wild Geese, the Famine, it has etched itself indelibly on our collective folk memory. Any account of that great woman, Nano Nagle, has to take into consideration the Penal Laws, because it was under their shadow that she lived and worked:  against all the odds she defeated the intent of the laws, establishing her schools, introducing a religious order into Ireland and finally founding her own congregation to perpetuate her works.

After the Treaty of Limerick, and in order to quash any effort to restore the Catholic Stuart kings, a series of draconian laws was introduced in Ireland.  In 1703 about fourteen per cent of the profitable land in Ireland was in Catholic ownership.  In 1704 an act of Parliament was passed “to prevent the growth of popery”. Under this legislation it was illegal for Catholics to acquire property by purchase, gift, mortgage or inheritance. An eldest son who conformed to the State Church became the heir-at-law of his father’s estate. With the implementation of the laws regarding property the Catholic ownership was reduced to five per cent by 1776. Poverty and degradation followed. Landlords held the power and the wealth: the tenants were powerless, poor and helpless.

The priesthood was one of the earliest targets of the Penal Laws. Bishops, vicars general, Jesuits, friars were all ordered to leave the country. Young priests returning from the colleges on the Continent were threatened with the direst punishments. An act of 1703 for the registration of the popish clergy severely limited the numbers, activities and replacements of the diocesan priesthood. Priest hunters were employed to track down the unregistered clergy. The number of traditional Mass Rock sites in the country tells how the people responded to these laws!

Love of learning has always been a characteristic of the Irish race, and the Penal Laws regarding the provision of education were particularly harsh.  An act made in “the seventh year of King William…” states that “no person whatsoever of the popish religion shall publicly or in private houses teach school, or instruct youth in learning within the realm upon pain of £20, and of being committed to prison for the space of three months for every offence..” It was hoped that the Charter schools and the charity schools would teach the English language and the principles of true religion. But the hoped for result of turning out “happy English children” was not achieved: the gap in the system, however, meant that many generations of children in the 18^th century had little enough chance of a decent education. The Hedge School helped to redress the lacuna: it could not be consistent, however, given the transitory nature of the gatherings and the teachers.

The Penal Laws reduced the Catholic Irish to non-persons. They could not own property: they were forbidden to practise their religion openly: they could not get a decent education: they were not permitted to engage in political, professional or military careers. It was against this background and into this milieu that Nano Nagle appeared as a shining light: in the words of Jerome Kiely:

Her lamp swung on a door to happiness,

Brought life to lives were nurtured in their shrouds

And taught the way to light was Light, the Way.

Nano Nagle was born in Ballygriffin, Co. Cork in the year 1718. The actual date of her birth is not known, but it was probably in the Summer of that year. Her parents were Gareth Nagle and Ann Mathew. The Nagles were of Cambro -Norman origin, arriving in Ireland with Strongbow in 1170 AD. As with many of the Normans the Nagles became “more Irish than the Irish themselves”. In the 14^th century a family of the Nagles received a tract of land in the Blackwater Valley, between the towns of Mallow and Fermoy. To this day the mountains in that district bear the Nagle name: there are townlands also bearing the name, along with castles and demesnes associated with the Nagles. Nano’s grandfather David Nagle, and his brother Richard, held significant positions in the Parliament of King James II, in 1689. Her father, Gareth, inherited the Nagle lands at Ballygriffin. Ann Mathew, Nano’s mother, was a descendant of Elizabeth Poyntz, who had married into the family of the Butlers of Ormond and Ossory. Ann’s parents were George Mathew and Martha (Mary) Eaton.  The Nagles had managed to hold on to a considerable portion of their lands in the Blackwater district, despite the strictures of the Penal Laws, and so Nano would have been reared in relative wealth. She was the eldest of the seven Nagle children, five girls and two boys. She was probably educated at home and there is a tradition in the Killavullen area that she went to the hedge-school at Monanimy Castle run by Mr. O’Halloran. A distant relative of Nano’s, Edmund Burke, the great 18^th century politician, was also educated by Master O’Halloran. The only anecdote we have of Nano’s childhood in Ballygriffin is related in the Panegyric of Dr. William Coppinger, 1794. He tells that Nano’s mother despaired of her high spirits, but her father, Gareth said, “Our Nano will be a saint yet”.

When Nano was in her teens she was sent to France to be educated. She had many Nagle relatives there, and she would have been welcomed into their circles of friends. The name of her school in France is not known, nor is it known how long she spent in France. At some point she was joined by her sister, Ann.  One anecdote remains of that time. Returning from a ball one morning, Nano was amazed to see a group of poor people huddled in the doorway of a church, waiting to attend early morning Mass. This had a significant impact on her.

Gareth Nagle died, c. 1746, and Nano and her sister, Ann, were forced to return to Ireland for good. Nano and Ann made their home in Dublin, together with their widowed mother. During that time they probably became aware of the great poverty of the people living in the slums of that city. The children were most obviously suffering, and Nano and Ann became accustomed to visiting them in their hovels and slums. Then a turning point came in Nano’s life. One day she was looking for a length of silk that she had brought from France. Ann confessed that she had already disposed of the cloth to help a poor family in distress. The Annals of South Presentation Convent highlight this incident as a major illumination in Nano’s life: they quote Nano as saying “it was a trifling circumstance which fired my determination to devote the remainder of my life to God in the service of the poor.” Mrs. Nagle died in January 1748, and some time afterwards Nano was stricken with grief when her beloved sister Ann also died. Nano returned to Ballygriffin to live with her brother David and his wife, Mary (nee Harrold).

While in Ballygriffin, Nano re-acquainted herself with her relatives and friends in the Blackwater Valley. Her favourite topic, according to Coppinger, was the business of salvation, duty to God and the mysteries of religion. She was appalled at the lack of knowledge and the ignorance and superstition she encountered, and she yearned to do something about it. But she felt unable to do anything, and she determined then on entering a convent in France. The name and location of the convent is not known, nor is the duration of Nano’s stay there. It seems that she was haunted by the memories of the poor and uneducated children in Ireland: almost like St. Patrick she was drawn back to “walk among us once again.” In one of the few extant letters of Nano we are told: “Nothing would have made me come home but the decision of (my confessor) that I should run a great risk of salvation if I did not follow the inspiration.”

She decided to come home and start a little school for poor children. Her brother Joseph and his wife Frances (nee Mapas) invited her to live with them in Cove Lane, in Cork city.

It was from her brother’s residence that Nano went forth to begin her enterprise. She was keenly aware of the difficulties facing her, not least of which was finance. Some years after she set up her first school, (c. 1750), her uncle Joseph Nagle left her a large legacy, which she used for her schools. He also supported her in every other way that he could, despite the Penal Laws. The only person Nano told about her plan was her confessor, who gave his approval.  Nano rented a room or a cabin near to Joseph’s house, and, one day, she sent her maid to get a good mistress to take in about 30 poor girls.  The mistress took care of the children, but Nano visited them constantly and secretly in the morning. Her family thought she was at chapel. Joseph discovered by accident what Nano was about when a poor man called to him one day asking that he intercede with Nano to give a place to his daughter in her school. At first Joseph was highly amused at the idea of Nano as a teacher: this changed to anger, though, when he realised what she was doing. Gradually however, with Joseph’s help, her family came around to her way of thinking, and from then on were her greatest supporters, despite the possibility of drawing the wrath of the law on themselves. By degrees, Nano rented two other cabins near her first one, and took in more and more children. There were other schools in the city of Cork at the time, but they were fee-paying. Nano’s schools were exclusively for the poor who could not afford a fee and thus were without the benefits of an education. Initially, Nano provided only for girls: at the insistence of her sister-in-law, Frances, she opened a school for boys and engaged a master to teach them. By degrees the three schools became seven, including three on the north side of the River Lee.

In a letter of 1769, Nano stated that she had five schools for girls and two for boys. The children all learned to read and write, learned the Douai catechism, attended Mass, learned their prayers; the girls learned needlework and all learned technical skills. The masters and mistresses employed by Nano carried out much of the teaching: Nano reserved the right of Catechesis in all her schools, which she visited daily. For over thirty years she trudged across the city, visiting each school, preparing the children for the sacraments, patiently explaining the catechism, showing the children that she cared, that they were important. About her love for the schools she wrote: “I often think that my schools will never bring me to heaven, as I only take delight and pleasure in them.”

Along with her work in the schools Nano looked at the plight of the adult poor, of the aged, the sick and the destitute. She visited these people in their homes on her way to and from her schools, and it was said of her that there was not a garret in Cork that she had not visited. She spent large portions of her fortune on supplying medicine, food and clothes for the people, bringing hope and light and even joy into the lives of hundreds of Cork’s inhabitants. She visited the sick in the local hospitals, and the prisoners in the two city prisons. In her will she even provided for money “towards the relief of debtors in both Gaols.” At times Nano was obliged to beg for the support of her schools: sometimes she was treated with great kindness, at other times she was rebuffed and criticised for her throng of beggars’ brats!

Never of a robust constitution, Nano realised that her schools and works of charity would not long survive after her death. In the 1760s she began to look for a religious order who would give permanence to her work. After much heartache and disappointment she eventually secured some young women who were willing to be trained in the Ursuline Convent in Paris. Nano set about building a convent for the group and looked forward to their arrival in Cork.  In September 1771 the Ursulines took possession of their convent in Cove Lane. They opened their school in January 1772. Nano thought all was settled. But the Ursulines were bound by rule to enclosure and to the education of the higher orders of society. Thus they could not visit the sick, the poor, the destitute, nor devote themselves exclusively to the education of the poor. Nano had to think again.

 During 1774 Nano made her decision on the next steps to be taken to meet the needs of the poor of Cork city. At her invitation a number of young women joined her as helpers in the schools and as assistants in the work of visiting the aged and the sick. On January 25^th, 1775, Elizabeth Burke and Mary Fouhy withdrew from the world and joined Nano in her small house in Cove Lane. Nano decided to erect a bigger, more suitable house for her new venture, and encountered fierce opposition from the Ursuline Sisters and from Fr. Moylan, the local Parish Priest (and afterwards Bishop of Kerry). He asked Nano to desist: she refused. She said that if he continued his opposition then she would go elsewhere to continue her work. He was not willing to lose Nano, and so she was free to continue on her enterprise.  On Christmas Eve, 1775, the three were joined by Mary Ann Collins, and the religious life was adopted and the novitiate was begun. The Presentation Order was born:  Nano’s original title was “The Sisters of the Charitable Instruction of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.” The title and rule of the new sisterhood were a temporary measure until such time as permanent decisions could be taken. Nano was conscious of her own unworthiness to have undertaken this new project: she relied totally on the power of God, welcoming his will in all things. She desired to be of service wherever the need arose: she wrote “If I could be of any service in saving souls in any part of the globe, I would willingly do all in my power.” Another of her favourite sayings was: “The Almighty makes use of the weakest means to bring about His works.”

From 1778 until her death in 1784 one of Nano’s chief preoccupations was the selection of a French religious society whose rules and constitutions would meet Irish religious and social conditions. But she died before final decisions were possible. Nano’s own spirituality was bound up in the Eucharist, long hours being spent before the Blessed Sacrament each day. During her years in France she would have learned devotion to the Sacred Heart: this devotion is still a significant one for Presentation Sisters. Her experiences, at home as a young girl, gave her a great appreciation of the Mass, daily prayer and love of the Rosary. These she shared with her new community. Hers was an ascetical life: she practised severe penances, but did not enjoin them on her companions. Her daily dedication to the children and the schools, to the women, the sick, the aged and the destitute she would have shared with her companions, and expected the same dedication from them.

During the Winter of 1783-84 it became obvious that Nano’s health was failing. She had spent over thirty years teaching, going out in all sorts of weather, enduring illnesses, ulcerations of her legs and feet, all without proper care, and without complaint. Early in April, 1784 she taught school as usual, reading the Passion in the schools in Holy Week, participating fully in the Ceremonies of Holy Week. In the early hours of Monday the 26^th of April she received the Last Sacraments. Her last words to her sisters were: “Love one another as you have hitherto done.” She died later that morning, aged 66. The pioneer of Catholic Education, not only in Ireland, but in the modern world, was laid to rest in the Ursuline cemetery in Cove Lane.

From the death of Nano until 1804, Mother Angela Collins directed the sisterhood and the poor schools. The Sisters struggled to continue, and their efforts were greatly aided when, in 1787, Dr. Moylan was transferred from the See of Kerry to the See of Cork. He set about getting canonical approval for the new congregation.  In 1791 a brief of approval was received, and Fr. Laurence Callanan, O.F.M. was appointed to draw up the rules. At the request of the Sisters, he gave a new title to the congregation, and so it received the name Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Final approval was given in April 1805.

Reflections

Nano was a woman of faith: without a firm belief in the providence of God she could not have kept going: “the Almighty is all sufficient”. She had a strong devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, to the Mass and Rosary: these gave her courage and strength. Love for the children drove her on: she was absolutely convinced that education was the way up for the poor. She exhibited great courage in defying the Penal Laws, the power of the clergy, the persuasions of the Ursulines. She was single-minded in her approach and nothing deflected her from her goals. She must have had great charm and charisma, as she attracted the admiration of many, including those opposed to the education of Catholics, especially the Catholic poor.

 Her goals for her Order

She worked quietly, defying the Law, doing what she saw as necessary: teach the poor, visit the sick, feed the hungry, comfort the aged and infirm, visit those in prison, give material help where possible: these were her goals, these she fulfilled.

 Realistic for her time?

Hardly: but this did not deter Nano, and she succeeded against all the odds. Not only did the Presentation Sisters implement Nano’s goals: other congregations followed where she had led: the Presentation Brothers, the Christian Brothers, The Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of Charity….all found inspiration in Nano’s own life and work.

Have they relevance for today?

Absolutely: wherever there are poor there is the need to be proactive: where there is ignorance there is need for education and so on…the way of dealing with the problems will be a 21^st century solution. Example: children who do not fit into the regular school system: provide a new system, like Notschool.net, which Presentation Ireland is pioneering. Tackle the injustices of 21^st century, like human rights violations, women’s rights issues, fair trade, Global warming etc. etc. Presentation worldwide is engaged at U.N. level in advocacy and lobbying on such issues, at Non Governmental Org. status, through our International Presentation Association.

Standing the test of time

Love will always stand the test of time; Nano’s love for the children, for the poor, for those on the margins of society….these will always be there. Belief in the Providence of God, in his power to effect change and bring about results: believers will always have that conviction. Any organisation, religious or otherwise, which can read the signs of the times, as Nano did in 18^th century Ireland, and adapt, change and challenge will survive. The form may not be the same: the numbers will not be the same: but the ideals, if they are genuine, will persist. The congregation as we know it may not survive: but the ideals will remain: the Presentation Associates movement is growing worldwide: the Global Education Experiences of students in our schools perpetuate the Christian ideals of love of God and love of neighbour being inextricably bound together: in our two thirds world the name and work of Nano is developing and growing, e.g. in Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, Chile, Zambia….

Nano Nagle is a woman for all times because she was so much a woman of her own time, yet ahead of her time, in challenging systems, finding, not problems, but answers and solutions to what she saw as wrong with systems of her time. As Christians, followers of Jesus Christ and daughters of Nano Nagle, we see our task today as Doing Justice in the Way of Jesus.