By Dan Walsh
Over two centuries since a Mr Carroll of Wexford bequeathed £1,600 to Bishop Patrick Ryan (1768-1819) that enabled him to a secure a foundation for the Presentation Nuns in 1818, the sisters are leaving Wexford town.
It is an historic moment that marks the end of a long chapter that began with the Presentation Sisters have dedicated themselves to the education of both boys and girls of the town and surrounding district.
To mark their departure, there will be a Mass of Thanksgiving, presided by Bishop Ger Nash, this Friday, October 13th, at 5.45pm in Rowe St Church, Wexford, followed by refreshments served afterwards in the Presentation school. All are welcome.
All priests of the diocese are welcome to come and concelebrate. Wexford parish encourages parishioners, past pupils from across the diocese and former teachers to come along and pray in thanksgiving on the evening.
“It will also be an occasion to celebrate the seeds sown by the Sisters that still grow in the ethos of the Presentation School and good carried forward. While there is sadness at the end of an era, we still look forward in hope and thank the Sisters for their loyal dedication to the people of Wexford for over two centuries,” Bishop Nash told WexfordLocal.com.
BRIEF HISTORY; The first Superioress was Mother de Sales Devereux from Wexford who had made her profession in the Presentation Convent in Kilkenny. Her colleague in the new foundation at Wexford was Sister Mary Baptist Frayne, and on October 2nd 1818, Mass was celebrated for the first time in the new house at Wexford by Fr, John Corrin, who died in April 1835 aged 86 years.
After eight years Mother de Sales was asked to found a new order in Enniscorthy by Bishop James Keating, (1783-1849) and accordingly she left Wexford in 1827.
Mother Baptist died on January 31st, 1857, and in 1862, Mother Agnes Kenny built two new schools and a cloister leading to them from the convent. She also formed an industrial class for embroidery and lacemaking,
Another two centuries of Wexford history fades into the archives and soon will be no more than folk memory, however, it is right and fitting to record the event with thanksgiving and remembrance and service to so many generations from soon after the 1798 Rebellion, through the Famine years, and the following centuries when people struggled with poverty and survived with nothing but faith, hope and charity.
WexfordLocal.com 