Sir, – The positive piece about Ireland’s women religious recently published in The Irish Times, authored by Gillian O’Brien, is most welcome (“Overlooking nuns’ contribution to Ireland erases women from our history – yet again”, Rite & Reason, April 17th).
We agree entirely with the sentiments expressed and the emphasis on the complexity, diversity and importance of women religious. We do, however, wish to point out that there are excellent scholars and organisations committed to ensuring that their significance does not go unrecorded or undocumented. Ireland’s women religious were consequential at home, beyond doubt, but also well beyond Irish shores, thanks in large part to the Irish people’s generous support for missionary enterprises.
Chief amongst those devoted to ensuring Irish sisters will not be forgotten is an international network of scholars, students, academics and archivists, H-WRBI (History of Women Religious of Britain and Ireland). H-WRBI encourages research in the field and makes available material to facilitate research, forging direct links between all interested parties. Some religious orders, as well as welcoming researchers into their archives, are developing their own exhibitions and outreach programmes to provide a fuller understanding of who they are and what they do. The authors of this missive, working under the auspices of Las Casas Institute for Social Justice, Blackfriars Hall, Oxford University, are currently engaged with a variety of religious orders and individual sisters examining their experiences in conflict zones.
Indeed, the early research from our project features in the immensely successful Herstory exhibition “Peace Heroines”. It highlights the importance of women in ending the “Troubles” and forging Northern Ireland’s peace process. A section of the exhibition is accorded to religious women. Herstory is a multidisciplinary storytelling platform that illuminates and celebrates female role-models through pioneering education and art programmes. Herstory campaigned for Brigid’s Day, Ireland’s first national holiday named after a woman. “Peace Heroines” was launched at Stormont last year. Recently returned from the United Nations in New York, the exhibition has travelled the length and breadth of Ireland as well as being resident at the Irish Embassy in London, the home of President Michael Higgins and of course in Dáil Éireann.
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The church scandals of recent decades inflicted immeasurable hurt on far too many victims. Their pain and suffering can never be forgotten. The venality and depravity of the perpetrators should not, however, be allowed to tarnish all religious nor deter scholars, the young above all, from entering the field. The historical endeavour necessarily records the good and the bad. Along with the frailty and the flaws, the ignoble and the ignominious must be the service and sacrifice, the courage and commitment of Ireland’s religious sisters. We join our voices to that of Dr O’Brien in encouraging more work on women religious, but please let us not forget those already hard at work in the field and the fine work of their predecessors. – Yours, etc,
DIANNE KIRBY,
BRIEGE RAFFERY,
MARIA POWER,
Las Casas Institute
for Social Justice,
Blackfriars Hall,
University of Oxford,
UK.