The sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny first arrived in Ferbane on the 12th of May 1896. Their arrival and the arrival of those who followed in their footsteps were to have a significant impact on the community of Ferbane and to the education of young women in the midlands of Ireland.
The order of Saint Joseph of Cluny was founded in France in 1807 by Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey. Having grown up in the aftermath of the French Revolution, her dictum was “to love the children” and make a great effort to improve their education to as high a degree as possible”.
“We have been asked to go to Ireland, to teach the poor and the well to do. I have been assured that we could do much good there. If such be the will of God, I agree to this foundation with all my heart”.[1]
Blessed Anne Marie wrote the above in 1850. However, it was ten years before four sisters, led by Mother Callixte Pichet, arrived in Dublin, and set up residence in a former Carmelite monastery in Blanchardstown. The congregation grew and within a year, twenty-three Irish girls had joined the order. The community continued to expand and in 1864 the sisters established their first secondary school for girls at Mount Sackville, situated in the idyllic location above the valley of the river Liffey adjoining Dublin’s Phoenix Park.
Mount Sackville would take its place among the leading secondary schools in Ireland and continues to be synonymous with the education of young women 160 years later.
By the late 1890s the Mother General of the order was interested in expanding Cluny Education in Ireland. The opportunity arose when the parish priest of Ferbane, Co Offaly, Canon Patrick Sheridan issued an invitation to the Mother General in Paris to set up a convent in the town. A legal agreement between the then Mother General, Rev Mother Marie Basile Chevreton of Paris, the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise and Canon Patrick Sheridan was signed on the 7th of May 1896,[2] with the provisor that the education provided by the sisters would be funded entirely by the order and that the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny would not become involved in Primary Education until the existing principal of the local school would retire, which didn’t actually happen until eighteen years later. Eventually in October 1914 the order took over the running of the local primary school.
In 1896 three sisters, accompanied by Mother Gabriel Horner travelled from Mount Sackville to Ferbane and founded a secondary school there which included a section for boarders. The Congregation would also establish a novitiate at the convent and the sisters would become involved in all aspects of community life in both the town of Ferbane and its surrounding areas.
It seems that there was much excitement and jubilation about the arrival of the Cluny sisters in 1896. The Irish Catholic reported that there was a lot of planning and preparation for their arrival by the local people who lined the street to greet them. The sisters travelled from Dublin via Portarlington to Clara by train. The Irish Catholic goes on to describe “how amidst incessant hurrahs and shouting and most enthusiastic demonstrations of joy and welcome”, the sisters arrived in their new home.[3] The celebrations of the sisters’ arrival continued throughout the night, where bonfires gleamed from the surrounding hinterlands.
The new convent which became St Joseph’s was located on Main Street and consisted of 22 rooms, 9 outhouses and thirteen front windows.
The congregation expanded and by 1901 there were nine sisters and 26 boarders. The boarders ranging in age from three years old to eighteen years and consisted of three boys and twenty -three girls. The building was first leased by the order and eventually purchased by the congregation for a sum of £300 in 1947.
Student numbers continued to expand so much so, that the sisters had to rent the adjoining building which was later a garda station and by 1910 there were seventy boarders enrolled in the school resulting in the addition of a much-needed extension of classrooms and a new 24 bed dormitory as well as the extension of the convent chapel.
Secondary education would continue in this building until 1923. By then the number of girls joining the order had increased significantly. To facilitate the expansion of both the school and the Novitiate, the congregation purchased Gallen Priory. The Priory was a detached seven-bay two-storey former country house, built c.1750, currently used as a Nursing Home.
The entire community of Saint Joseph’s moved there in the Autumn of 1923.
During this time Saint Joseph’s was leased by a local business family called Kenny’s who operated a bakery there. It was also used as a local dance hall which locals frequented after “Fair Days” held in the town.
As Gallen Priory was the main Novitiate House in Ireland, England and Scotland, the number of novices increased on an annual basis. A decision to reserve all spaces for novices in the Priory resulted in the closure of the Boarding School for part of the 1930s. This meant that there was no secondary school available for girls in Ferbane. However, in 1936 the Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise requested that the sisters reopen a girls’ secondary school in the town as local people couldn’t afford to send their daughters elsewhere. It was therefore decided to reopen the old Saint Joseph’s building as a convent and day school. Students continued to board in Gallen Priory and attend school in Saint Joseph’s. Sr. Maeve Guinan, a native of Ferbane and current Provincial Superior of the order, recalls stories of how the local funeral undertaker Jimmy Claffey would collect some of the nuns in a pony and trap and take them to work in the Primary school each morning.[4]
The students would attend daily Mass in the Convent and go to the Parish Church on Holy Days and at weekends.
Back Row L.to R. Mairead Keenan, Maria Maher, Catherine Dinnegan, Joan Boylan, Ciara Purcell.
Front Row L.to R. Elaine Derrane, Fay Cooney, Sr Brigid Moore, Emer Flynn
Source: St Joseph’s & St Saran’s Ferbane, A Celebration. Editors Nuala Claffey and Christy Higgins
One of the longest serving Sisters was Sr. Madeline O’ Brien, a native of Mullingar who was Superior of Saint Joseph’s from 1897 to 1914. She was succeeded by Sr Lucy Dunne a native of Monasterevin who would oversee the acquisition of the Priory and the expansion of both the boarding school and the Novitiate. Despite this difficult period of Irish history, which saw Ireland being plunged into a war of Independence and the world at war 1914-1918, the convent continued to expand, and the sisters continued to provide a high standard of education and much needed services to the local community.
In the decades that followed which witnessed a second World War and saw the introduction of free secondary education in the 1960s boarding continued until the last boarders sat their Leaving Certificate in June 1998
Subjects taught in Saint Joseph’s were Irish, English, French Commerce, Religious Education, Art and Music. The curriculum further expanded when the Intermediate and Leaving Certificates were introduced in the 1930s and included, History, Geography, Science, Latin and Home Economics. From the 1960s all the Sciences and Technical Drawing were also part of the curriculum.
From the early years of boarding at Saint Joseph’s, the school earned a reputation for outstanding results where students earned prizes in Irish, English and Public Speaking. The school Choir won a prize of over £2,500 in 1913. This excellent academic record continued and was reflected in the Intermediate and Leaving Certificate results of the following decades.
While the sisters can be credited with such high academic standards, the school in Ferbane was very much a home away from home for many young girls and for several boys. Children as young as three were sent here for various reasons, some because their mother’s had died of childbirth, others due to various family circumstances. The sisters nurtured and cared for these children as if they were their own. They were made feel part of a bigger family, that of the Cluny community.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny have always been known for their holistic approach to education wherethe individual student is valued irrespective of circumstances or ability.
Many extra -curricular activities were encouraged in Ferbane, especially in the area, of Music. Students were also encouraged to engage in charitable activities.
Olive Martin, a past-pupil, recalls a concert staged on Saint Patrick’s Evening in 1956 by the students in Ferbane to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Sister Patrick Healy who had taught in the primary school for 34 years and was then teaching in the secondary school. According to Olive, “The dancing, singing and verse speaking were superb, The Irish Play“An Tobar Naofa” and the operetta, “The Dolls’ House Party” were remarkable”.[5]
She continued to say, “the Tiny Tots Reel and Hornpipe caused many a chuckle as the little ones were innocently nonconscious of whether it was a reel or a hornpipe, they were dancing”.[6]
Regarding the costumes and stage effects, it seems that Ferbane had never seen the likes of it before.
The whole event was well attended by the people of Ferbane and the surrounding areas.
The students of Saint Josephs and later Gallen Priory engaged in many fundraising activities, thinking of those less fortunate than themselves. One such event was organised by the Junior Red Cross in Ferbane. In November 1957 St Joseph’s Secondary School became link 97c in the Junior Red Cross. They organised two nights of Carol Singing in the town, the proceeds of which were used to bring presents for the many lonely people in the County Home in Tullamore. Among the students who travelled bearing gifts were Maire Daly, Maura Murrihy and Marion Birmingham. [7]
Past boarders have fond memories of Christmas time in Gallen Priory, especially the Christmas Party night, where the refectory area would be transformed with decorations, candles, tablecloths, and music. A special roast chicken Christmas dinner was served, which was a real treat. The older students looked forward to this party night as an annual event, but they equally got pleasure from seeing the surprise and delight on the faces of the first-year boarders who experienced the festivities for the first time.[8]
Source:A History of Gallen Priory Ferbane by Sr Marie Therese Barber & Mary Delaney, 2006
The work and presence of the sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny had an enormous impact on the both the town of Ferbane and on its surrounding areas. They initiated and contributed to all aspects of Parish and Community life in the area, for over 12 decades. They became part of the local church and formed a parish choir, established a Youth Club, a St Vincent De Paul Society, an association for those with mental health issues, A Pioneers Society, A young Priest’s society and in the latter years oversaw the setting up of a Credit Union in the town.
Amalgamation.
The introduction of Free Secondary Education by Donogh O’ Malley the then Minister of Education in 1967 as well as the introduction of free school transport would result in a rapid increase in numbers attending St Joseph’s Secondary School. One of the most significant and historical results of this would lead to the amalgamation of St. Joseph’s and St. Saran’s Diocesan School for Boys in 1972. St. Saran’s had been founded in 1958 in the old National school.
To ensure a high standard of education continued in the district, a further amalgamation would occur at the beginning of the 21st century when in 2004 St. Joseph’s/St Saran’s and Ferbane Community School would amalgamate to form Gallen Community School.
I would like to conclude this blog by paying tribute to the gallant Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny, for their contribution and achievements to education in Ferbane, over several decades. They were responsible for a high standard of teaching and learning in the midlands of Ireland resulting in the education of thousands of young women and indeed the education of boys too. Their interest in the holistic development of each individual and their approach to education enabled those they taught to flourish and succeed.
The sisters have also left a lasting imprint on the wider community of Ferbane by their engagement in parish and community work.
In 2022 Offaly County Council purchased the St Joseph’s Convent building and grounds at an extremely reduced rate and are now developing it for the Local Community. In the tradition of the Convent, it will continue to serve the local Community of Ferbane and the surrounding areas.
The remaining three sisters have relocated to Ait Aoibheann, on the Athlone Road and continue their involvement in the Parish.
Sisters professed at Gallen Priory have travelled the world over to help the poor, spread the word of God and to educate young people and continue to fulfil Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey’s Dictum to “Do a little Good”.
“Ours is not to reap the harvest, ours is just to sow the seed.”[9]
As a native of Bracknagh, Co. Offaly, I feel very privileged to be teaching in the Cluny school of Mount Sackville over the last number of years where the Cluny ethos of a holistic approach to education continues to flourish in 2024.
I would like to acknowledge Sr. Maeve Guinan, Provincial Superior of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny, for her assistance in providing me with some information contained in this blog.
Mary Delaney
Local Historian and member of OHAS.
Dear Michael,
Please find 5 photos attached.
No 1. Former St. Joseph’s Day and Boarding School, Main St. Ferbane. Photo: Courtesy of Michelle Sugrue
No 2. Gallen Priory. Source: A History of Gallen Priory Ferbane by Sr Marie Therese Barber & Mary Delaney, 2006
No 3. Students in Gallen Priory Mid 1929. Source: A History of Gallen Priory Ferbane by Sr Marie Therese Barber & Mary Delaney, 2006
No 4 Sisters returning from Parish Church, Ferbane after profession ceremony, 1946
Source:A History of Gallen Priory Ferbane by Sr Marie Therese Barber & Mary Delaney, 2006
No 5. Girls from the class of 1985 with Sr Brigid Moore in Gallen Priory
Back Row L.to R. Mairead Keenan, Maria Maher, Catherine Dinnegan, Joan Boylan, Ciara Purcell.
Front Row L.to R. Elaine Derrane, Fay Cooney, Sr Brigid Moore, Emer Flynn
Source: St Joseph’s & St Saran’s Ferbane, A Celebration. Editors Nuala Claffey and Christy Higgins
[1] Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey,1850
[2] Sheil, Helen and the Sisters of St Joseph’s Convent. Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, Ferbane, Celebrating 100 years of Apostolate, 1896-1996. Brosna Press, (1996). P. 28.
[3] Sheil, Helen and the Sisters of St Joseph’s Convent. Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, Ferbane, Celebrating 100 years of Apostolate, 1896-1996. Brosna Press, (1996). P.31
[4] Guinan, Sr Maeve. Provincial Superior of the Cluny Order. Interview at Mount Sackville Convent. March 2024
[5] The Cluny Order, The World Over, Vol.3 No.12 Oct-December, 1956.p.10
[6] The Cluny Order, The World Over, Vol.3 No.12 Oct-December, 1956.p.10
[7] The Cluny Order, The World Over, Vol.4 NO.7. July -September,1958.p.8
[8] Cooney, Olivia, class of 1986. Quote in St Joseph and St Saran’s A Celebration. (Claffey.N & Higgins. C. editors), Brosna Press 2004.P.30
[9] Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey, quote in Delaney, Mary, Mount Sackville, 1864-2004, Jetprint, Tullamore,2005.P9.
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