Papers of Loreto Convent, Navan, Co. Meath

Identity Statement

Content & Structure

• Scope & Content: Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto), Navan, Co. Meath ↴

  The papers of Loreto Navan, consists of the papers of the Generalate, local community, novitiate, and missions administered from Loreto Navan, Co. Meath.
  The papers of Loreto Navan contain a wealth of information for those interested in religious sisters, education in Ireland, women’s history, education in the British Empire, and local history.
  Minutes of community, local council meetings, amendments and corrections to constitutions, rules and customs observed by the houses under Loreto Navan, regulations from the Superior General establishing or modifying rules for behaviour, customs and religious observances and letters from M. Kieran Duigenan, Superior General (1943-1949), reflect the administration of the Generalate, in series NAV/ADM. As a branch of separate from Rathfarnham, the Generalate at Navan had to communicate with Church authorities in Rome, NAV/VAT, for permission, degrees and indulgences.
  Registers of women who entered the novitiate are included in NAV/NOV.
  Minutes of the General Chapters and the General Councils 1950s – 1960s, acts of election recording the election of delegates and General Councillors 1922 – 1963, along with annual reports are included in NAV/GEN.
  Accounts, bequests and legacies and material relating to benefactors, can be found in NAV/FIN.
  The annals of Loreto Navan, NAV/ANN, record events of significance to the community, visitors, professions, ill health and death, changes of sisters, and other items.
  Letters received by successive Superior Generals, Loreto Navan, NAV/CSG, include letters from Superior Generals, Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham; letters from Bishops of Meath and Bishops of other dioceses; Archbishops of Dublin including Dr Murray, Archbishop of Dublin and Dr Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin, and letters from members of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Also present are letters from members of the clergy, other religious and seculars.
  Two attempts at the amalgamation of the wider global Institute in 1900, and the amalgamation with Loreto Rathfarnham in 1969, are reflected in NAV/AML.
  Documents relating to the foundations made in Ireland and abroad are present in NAV/BAL and NAV/MUL and the NAV/MIS series.
  Also present are reading material of a spiritual nature and a selection of books, articles, booklets and pamphlets acquired and used by the community at Loreto Navan.
  Attempts in the early 20th Century to secure the beatification of Mary Ward, 17th century foundress of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary are included in NAV/MWD.
  Material relating to the sale, conveyance, lease and building works undertaken on land and property belonging to the local Loreto community in Navan are documented in NAV/LAN.
  School records NAV/SCH include financial records, sodality registers, building works, extra-curricular activities including music, choir, and drama. A large collection of photographs NAV/PHO document community and school in Loreto Navan.

• Appraisal Destruction ↴

  Permanent Retention

• Arrangement ↴

  Previous arrangement and cataloguing of the papers had been undertaken in the General Archives, but a decision was taken in 2009 to update the catalogues in order to bring them to ISAD(G) 2006
  standards. Care has been taken, where possible, to retain the original order in which the documents were arranged. The papers of Loreto Navan have been arranged into 29 series, arranged according to the functions of the Generalate and community, (administration, novitiate, missions, etc).

Conditions of Access & Use

Allied Materials

There are no Allied Materials

Descriptive Control Area