DOI: 10.7925/drs1.ucdlib_45795
title: Loreto 1916

description: A collection of material related to the Easter Rising 1916 from the IBVM (Loreto) Institute & Irish Province Archives, including contemporaneous accounts of the Rising as observed by the Loreto Sisters at St Stephen’s Green Dublin and Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham. The material is collated from three separate Loreto archival collections: the community archives of Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham; Loreto College, 53 St Stephen’s Green; and M. Michael Corcoran IBVM, Superior General 1888 – 1918. The collection comprises of two manuscript community annals, a military permit, picture postcards from Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham and Loreto College, 53 St Stephen’s Green, and a typed letter from M. Michael Corcoran IBVM, Superior General 1888 – 1918.
description: Biographical/historical information: The Institute of the Blessed Virgin was founded by Mary Ward in 1609. It is a religious institute of pontifical right dedicated to apostolic works’, living according to the Ignatian tradition [IBVM Constitutions 2009, Volume II: Chapter I; 1.1]. Mary Ward’s idea of religious life was based on the Jesuit principles, of ‘unenclosed apostolic women religious’. This concept was so radical that in 1631 her Institute was suppressed. Mary Ward died in Yorkshire in 1644. In spite of the Bull of Suppression, the Institute continued to exist. The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary was finally recognised by the Church in 1877, and in 1909 Mary Ward was recognised as foundress. The Irish branch of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Loreto, was founded in Ireland in 1821 by Dublin woman, Frances Teresa Ball IBVM (1796 – 1861). The Institute is an international religious order, united by a common mission and divided into provinces and regions. Global, central governance is exercised by the Superior General (Institute Leader), assisted by the General Council. The Provincial Superior (Province Leader), assisted by the Provincial Council, is responsible for the governance of the Province/Region under her charge. Education was, traditionally, the central ministry of the Institute, educating and empowering women, in response to the identified needs of their times. Boarding and day schools, fee and non fee paying were opened across Ireland from 1821, and an international missionary thrust began in 1841. Traditionally, a religious community, governed by a local Superior, established and oversaw the staffing and administration of the attached schools. Religious and school communities co-existed, often, in the same building.
description: Ownership/custodial history: This fonds/collection was artificially constructed because of the relevance of the content to the Easter Rising 1916 national centenary celebrations. The material is collated from three separate Loreto archival collections, i.e.: the community archives of Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham; Loreto College, 53 St Stephen’s Green; and M. Michael Corcoran IBVM, Superior General 1888 – 1918. Each item is identified by its unique reference number, which also indicates the (original) parent collection.
description: Scope and content: Two manuscript community annals, military permit, picture postcards from Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham and Loreto College, 53 St Stephen’s Green and typed letter from M. Michael Corcoran IBVM, Superior General 1888 – 1918. The manuscript annals and letter provide a contemporaneous account of the Easter Rising 1916 as observed by the Loreto Sisters at St Stephen’s Green Dublin and Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham.
description: Other finding aid: Catalogues for Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham collection, Papers of M. Michael Corcoran and a listing for Loreto College, 53 St Stephen’s Green collection, can be consulted in IBVM (Loreto) Institute & Irish Province Archives, Reading Room.
description: Funding: This collection was digitised as part of the Sequestered: ‘Loreto the Green’ and 1916 project. The principal investigator for the project was Deirdre Raftery, School of Education, University College Dublin. The project was funded by the Irish Research Council Government of Ireland ‘New Foundations: Decade of Centenaries' Scheme’ Scheme 2016.