A nun has outvoted an admiral when it came to finally deciding on the name for a new link road in the Co Mayo town of Foxford.
The naming of a new road, completed just before Christmas to ease serious traffic congestion in Foxford, had been the cause of local debate for some months.
Two historic figures from the town's past were vying for selection. Community meetings were called and the townspeople were divided on whether the road should be named after Foxford born, founder of the Argentine navy, Admiral William Brown or Mother Agnes Morragh-Bernard, a Sister of Charity who founded the town's woollen mills in 1892.
The issue was raised twice this year already, but town councillors refused to officially name the road until the people decided whether they were opting for the hero or the heroine. Last week the Foxford Development Association decided to name to it "Mother Morragh-Bernard Road". Fianna Fáil Cllr Jimmy Maloney said: "It was up to the people of Foxford to decide and they have made their choice now."
The president of the Admiral Brown Society in Foxford, JJ O'Hara, said: "In 2007, the 150th anniversary of the death of William Brown will be marked with celebrations in Foxford, Dublin and Buenos Aries and it would be appropriate to have a street named after him in Foxford."