The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-12-07
FOUR REMARKABLE WOMEN.
How they Reviviaed the Roman Catholic
Church In Ireland,

IATHFAhNHAM, NOV. Zx-lL lS with extreme
reluctance that I write 10 Won on the orieva nces
anI snaos,am , VIZ W you on .ue Grievances
snu s, Oh in tn'1 native
tho 49,. 49,, a.. 80, 50, -, - AZ.
,resnn, eor ,ne men unu women ~. OIL ,ne
selves and their country out of the slough OF
despondencv IN which tbav seom In ho con.
.,'sl., .. W wn'ch 'ney seem 20 oe con-
signed by so many centuries OF misrule and op-
preston. That these efforts have been not only
brave. but heroic and successful. 1 can gladly
letter. though only a few culled. almost
~" ~ na~aiu, , lo" mu'.''uue enaoie amer.
can readers to say whether or not
vears there has been a bravo hot,la touch, %
,r,,,.,',.. A. -, ',,., -, 49,. w
land. Travellers from Europe to the United
States who wish To nudge soundlv NJ tbo social
$500. WV 80. ."uso suu, ". NV 'oe'a'
period should study the condition OF our public
institutions botb n, the heyinniny md M ,ha
close OF such period. For public institutions
are both tho outcome and the sources OF ma
tional life. They grow out OF the life and hnb-
It's OF q people. and they arc the very we'll
springs Of public life and virtue.
land and have been led to study closely her
and admiration have steadily increased BY the
sh ysa r19fe W s mas vs aSe rse
ISL mus, be be- une s as 's sne"king sV Of
osnolIS ao9s Thc favor
biities, has grown from within and BY virtue
Of her own vital energy.
nave poem VISITING some OF these great
female establishments OF education and char
ity. which may be IN all truth styled tho nurse
ss,ant readers viii concede to mo that the re-
h 81 ams m ,h maloriy 1i freshmen In
present ~
since lo3i down to tile present day. the nation
,h ms oa,sed ana suffered tbs faith has been
their souls all through a struggle unparalleled
ia History: me soul OF me natioh To-Day IN
freely and fully and mani TESTS itself in ali lis
native vi.or. when IT combines the expression
Of Catholic faith and sentiment with the love Of
and the irrrpresslbie aspirations toward free
national existence, -
Sisters Of Charity. and here at Rathfarnham the
great mother house OF the Sisters OF the In
known as. the Nuns OF Loretto, house which
also stands foremost IN an Ireland as female
ss ahu ;h wis ~ IrS asah ana
vent. together with the far-famed Crsu-
line Academy at Blackrock, both tho crea;
sanity Irish maiden was a native OF Cork.
q near relative both OF Edmund Burke and
April 26. 1854. and was the first who dared in
her own native city to- open school for
hs S 5hs Of aHs psna
She died prematurely., worn out by her
charitable lahors. 1t has been my privi-
fully every part OF the lowly house where she
first dwet with her companions IN January.
Aikenhead. who was destined to be the found
ress OF the irish Sisters OF Charity. religious
tho Vinrsn,an e ers who oI hae Tn n
cent OF Paul as their parent. In January. 1874.
was born IN Dublin Frances Ball. the narent OF
n n a NJ
McAuley the great mother OF the Irish Sisters
OF Mercy. was also born near Dublin. OH Sept.
l here unite the names OF four OF the noblest
women ever born IN any land. all belonging by
hss
those of any three men their Contemporaries
to prepare and secure for Ireland the glorious
intellectual and moral springtide. the very
sight OF which ILLS my soul with unspeakable
Joy and hope. The three last named were born
almost within decade Of the death of Honoria
or Nano Maggie. Mary Aikenhead, the grandest
and most attractive figure OF them all. spring;
81 srsx the Nsno
When !! inform the reader that Of the two
orders OF religious women founded BY Miss
lanu ana the PRESENTATION nuns 1fty-two; that
the Sisters OF Charity have TWENTY-FIVE houses.
ada. and that the Sisters OF Mercy count nine
ty.eiEht estaplishmentts IN the Green Isle. some
boas Of ani a'T
n t;a through education ana charity on me
ne OF the , lrlsn nation. nave SAID
some idea. for, in truth. unless l could
take the reader with me into some one OF
tho great establishments directed and Gre
ated by these ladies' and examine in de:
tai the various lapors TO which their zeal
extends. II wonid be Impossible. even Tor
American Catholics. to estimate the amount OF
work they DO. the thoroughness with which
they 90 it. the admirable training all their
M, have to underno and the SUCCESS
with which their devoted zeal is blessed. This
shall attempt on some future occasion. AT
present am only anxious To SHOW under what
unfnvorable circumstances and auspices these
women were born and educated and began
their apostolic task.
The studies of Icelandic nature and history
enable us to have in the physical world spec,
tacle analogous to that which the social and
political world in Ireland offered to Catholic
lrishmcn in 1854. The aspect OF Iceland at the
end OF her LONG Arctic winter. when the melt
ing SHOWS and ice deluge her fields. and not
green thing dare show itself above tho Naked
lava-strewn plains. Is Just as encouraging u
sight to 'he husoandman as was in Ireland in
1854 and for more than decade aiterward the
prospect OF seeing anything Catholic. spring
ur and come to maturity, on land which
had for centuries devoured its generations of
Catholic Children; In Iceland the shepherd