Papers of Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, Dublin

Context

Creator(s): Loreto Community, Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, Dublin

• Administrative History ↴

  Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham, Dublin was a boarding school, convent and farm were established by the Irish branch of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto) in 1822 and remained in use as a boarding school and convent until 1999. The Institute of the Blessed Virgin had been established in St Omer, by Englishwoman Mary Ward in 1609. Due to religious persecution, Mary Ward and her companions were unable to follow their vocation in England. They established a school in St Omer, and houses were established during her lifetime in Bavaria, Austria, Italy and England. Mary Ward’s ideas of religious life based on the Jesuit principles, of ‘unenclosed apostolic women religious’ were so radical that in 1631 her Institute was suppressed. Mary Ward died in Yorkshire in 1644. Despite the suppression, the Institute continued to grow and develop, although the sisters were not free to acknowledge Mary Ward as foundress. The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary was finally recognised by the Church in 1877, and in 1909 Mary Ward was recognised as foundress. The complex history of the religious order founded by Mary Ward since 1609, resulted in the establishment at various times of separate houses and Generalates. There are at present two branches of the Institute, the Congregatio Jesu and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Loreto sisters, founded in Ireland in 1821. Dr Daniel Murray, Archbishop of Dublin, anxious to take advantage of the loosening of the Penal Laws, and the imminent Catholic Emancipation, was anxious to increase the educational and medical facilities available to Catholics in Dublin and throughout the island. Dr Murray, a close family friend of the Ball family, encouraged Frances Ball to follow her vocation and enter religious life. Frances Ball was born on 6th January 1794, youngest daughter of John Ball, wealthy silk merchant of 47 Eccles Street, Dublin. She was educated at Micklegate Bar Convent, York from 1803 – 1809, before returning to Dublin. She returned to York in 1814, was known as Teresa in religion, was professed in September 1816 and remained in York for a total of seven years, completing her training and preparation for the establishment of the Institute in Ireland. She undertook the preparation for the establishment of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ireland at the behest of Dr Murray. In November 1821, M. Teresa Ball and her two companions, M. Baptist Therry and M. Ignatia Arthur, returned to Ireland to establish the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ireland. In 1821, Dr Murray purchased the dilapidated Rathfarnham House, but it was not fit to be occupied until 4 November 1822. On occupation a boarding school, convent community and free school were opened for Catholic girls. Rathfarnham House was renamed, ‘Loretto Abbey’, after a shrine to the holy family in Loreto, a small town near Ancona, Italy. The spelling changed in the early 20th century to Loreto. Loreto Abbey remained the ‘Mother House’ of the Institute in Ireland, and its dependent foreign houses until 1976, a centre for community, novitiate and boarding school until 1999. In 1994 a decision was taken to close the boarding school, this was achieved in 1999.The property was put for sale, and was eventually purchased by Liam Carroll of Danninger Developments in 1999.

• Archival History ↴

  The material comprising this fonds was created, or received, by the local Superiors and members of the community of Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham from 1814 – 2008. Material was periodically transferred to Loreto Central and Irish Province Archives.

• Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

  Official Transfer