Papers of Bom Sucesso Dominican Convent, Lisbon

Context

Creator(s): Members of Bom Sucesso Community, Lisbon

• Administrative History ↴

  The Convent of Our Lady of Bom Sucesso was founded in 1639 by the Dominican, Father Dominic of the Rosary O’Daly for Irish women who desired to live religious life but were unable to do so in Ireland due to the restrictive laws against Catholics prevailing at that time. A generous Portuguese countess, Doña Iria de Brito donated her house and property to Father Dominic. Thus, the community had a home in Portugal where they could live their religious life in tranquillity. The nuns lived a strictly enclosed monastic life under the jurisdiction of the Master of the Order until 1955 with a short interruption during the 19th century when it was judged wiser to transfer to the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Lisbon. In 1955, the community amalgamated with the Congregation of Dominican Sisters, Cabra, Ireland. By this time, the nuns were greatly involved in the teaching ministry which had begun in the early 19th century. Two foundations were made from Bom Sucesso, St Anne’s, Oeiras and Comunidade Doña Iria (in Zambujal) in 1983 and 1993 respectively. These were closed in 2002 and all the sisters came together as one community in Bom Sucesso where they lived until their departure for Ireland in August 2016.

• Archival History ↴

  The history of the Bom Sucesso collection has been a chequered one covering over three and three-quarters centuries and through regimes favourable and unfavourable to religious institutions. Over the nineteenth century especially and early twentieth century, keeping archives was quite a challenge due to interference in the running of the convent’s affairs by Portuguese governments with Republican leanings. Documents were confiscated in 1823 when the community was expelled for a month from Bom Sucesso. In 1834 and in 1835, further documents were confiscated. Letters were written to various officials asking for their return, but with no result. From mid-nineteenth century on, the community requested and enjoyed diplomatic immunity under the British Government. Some of the archives were taken for safe keeping to the British Embassy and never returned. Subsequent applications in the 1950s to the British National Archives in Kew near London yielded no result either. Thus, it happens that some older documents pertaining to Bom Sucesso are found today in the National Archives in Torre do Tombo and in the archives of the Ajuda Palace, while some convent plans are supposed to exist in the Biblioteca Municipal in Campo Grande. A further misfortune befell the archives during the Revolution of 1910. Many original documents were purposely destroyed by the sisters as they feared that these papers might contain evidence which would lead to their expulsion from Portugal. Mother Cecilia Murray of the community in Bom Sucesso succeeded in salvaging its history from the documents remaining in the convent and retrieving copies of others from the archives in Corpo Santo, in the Vatican and in the University of Coimbra in addition to the offices mentioned earlier. This activity carried out over a lifetime in Bom Sucesso has meant that the history of the community can now be told. Mother Cecilia reconstructed the annals, at least the sequence of events in the history of the convent. Other sisters also helped in restoring the archives including those who typed out transcripts of original documents. These archives have now been classified and are of interest for anyone wishing to study communities of Irish religious women in exile. The entire Bom Sucesso archive is now deposited in the National Archives of Portugal in Torre do Tombo since July 2019. This consists of material created and deposited in Bom Sucesso Convent up to 2016 as well as copies of original records which had already been held in Torre do Tombo before 2019. It also includes copies of papers originally held in Ajuda Palace, Campo Grande, the Vatican, the University at Coimbra and in the Dominican Fathers’ archives in Corpo Santo, Lisbon.

• Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

  Official Transfer