Mary O'Hagan (1823 31 January 1876), Abbess in Newry and Kenmare, founder of the convent in Kenmare.

Biography

Mary O'Hagan was born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

in 1823. Her parents were Edward O'Hagan, a merchant, and his wife Mary Bell, daughter of Captain Thomas Bell. Her brother was Thomas O'Hagan, later Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Their parents died when O'Hagan was young and she became the ward of her brother. They travelled as his work took him to Dublin. O'Hagan entered the convent of the Sisters of

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin language, Latin: ''Ordo Sanctae Clarae''), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Or ...

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

when she was 21, where she became Sister Mary Michael and remained there until 1861. By 1853 O'Hagan had become the abbess of the Newry convent. When a request was made for a new establishment in

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

, she brought six of the other nuns with her to

Kenmare Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay. It is also a townland and civil parish. Location Ken ...

where they set up a school and convent. While the building work was going on they lived in “Rose Cottage” and they turned the old coach house associated with the cottage into a breakfast room where their students and local children could get breakfast before school. The designers 1889

While the school was being built, from the existing building once used as a work house, there was employment for the men in the area. O'Hagan set up an industrial school with courses designed to improve the local women's ability to have employment, or a trade and craft where they could sell their products. She set up classes for lace, embroidery, drawing and design for the girls. When the building of the school was completed in 1864 and there was no further work for the men, the boys were taught drawing and design, and were trained in leatherwork, woodcarving and plasterwork. By 1869 the sales figures for the goods the students were producing had reached £500 per annum. Kenmare lace or “Point d’Irelandaise” became highly sought after and popular until the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. However O'Hagan herself died at the Convent of the Holy Cross, Kenmare on 31 January 1876. One of her friends, one of the six nuns who initially accompanied her on the journey to Kerry was Margaret Anna Cusack who wrote her biography ''In Memoriam: Mary O'Hagan, Abbess and Foundress of the Convent of Poor Clares, Kenmare''.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Hagan, Mary 1823 births 1876 deaths Religious leaders from Belfast People from Kenmare Irish Roman Catholic abbesses 19th-century Irish nuns