Recently launched by An Tanaiste Mary Harney, at the civic offices in Clondalkin, Dublin, nanonagle.com is all about Sr Nano Nagle, founder of the Presentation Schools. It is not often that one gets to say this, particularly when it is a website based on someone born in 1718, but the home page is rather beautiful. It is a painting, on a blue background, of Sr Nagle teaching young children.
This painting is also used as a poster, which can be downloaded from the site, for the One Step Beyond concert - a celebration of the life of Nano Nagle - which was held at the National Concert Hall last week.
However, the look of a site, while it may be originally what attracts people, will not hold the attention if the content is not up to scratch. With nanonagle.com, though, the content is of a high standard.
The history section is detailed, interesting and very readable, with good use of pictures. Particularly commendable is the inclusion of a children's version of the history. This is an idea that other sites would do well to take on board.
Clicking on the various counties on a map of Ireland leads to addresses and phone numbers for the various Presentation schools in that region, which may well be the reason a lot of people go to the site. Also on the site are the words and music for the One Step Beyond song which was written by Liam Lawton. The music can take a little while to download though. Concert organiser Yvonne Crotty, who taught in a Presentation school for 10 years, says: "I felt it was very important and valuable for students and teachers of Presentation schools to know about this valiant woman who was instrumental in the pioneering of Irish education.
"I also felt it would be imperative to show an appreciation of the legacy of Nano Nagle and the contribution of the Presentation congregation to the local community and indeed to their ongoing contribution to communities further afield, in particular the Third World," she says. Overall, nanonagle.com is an enjoyable, informative and easy-to-use web site. A lot of good work obviously went into it, and that is very much an appropriate tribute to a woman whose work contributed so much to the education of Irish people.
