Papers of M. Xaveria Fallon IBVM, 1880 – 1888

Repository:

Identity Statement

TitlePapers of M. Xaveria Fallon IBVM, Third Superior General I.B.V.M. (Irish Branch)
Archive ReferenceIE LA/XF
Web Link to this Entryhttps://iar.ie/archive/papers-of-m-xaveria-fallon-ibvm-1880-1888
Creation Dates1880 – 2005
Level of DescriptionSub Fonds (subdivision of a fonds containing a body of related records corresponding to administrative subdivisions in the originating agency or organization or, when that is not possible, to geographical, chronological, functional, or similar groupings of the material itself. When the creating body has a complex hierarchical structure, each sub-fonds has as many subordinate sub-fonds as are necessary to reflect the levels of the hierarchical structure of the primary subordinate administrative unit. (Sometimes contiguous with an archives ‘collection’ ).
Extent Medium4 Archival Boxes

Context

Creator(s): M. Xaveria Fallon IBVM & Members of I.B.V.M. (Irish Branch)

  • Administrative History ↴

    M. Xaveria Fallon (1832 – 1888), baptized Jane, spent part of her early childhood in St Omer, France, a place with strong connections to Mary Ward, foundress of I.B.V.M. On the return of the Fallon family to Ireland in 1848, Jane and her sisters, Mary and Letitia boarded at Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham. Jane entered religious life at Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham on 24 December 1849, entered the novitiate on 1 April 1850, and was finally professed on 12 April 1852. She was known in religion as M. Xaveria. After her profession, M. Xaveria was sent to Lough Cooter, Galway, where she was appointed Mistress of Schools. She was returned to Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham in April 1855, was appointed Mistress of Novices and later assumed the dual role of Mistress of Novices and Assistant Mistress to M. Teresa Ball until her death in 1861. M. Xaveria appears to have had a close relationship with M. Teresa Ball from her days as a pupil in Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham. In 1861 M. Xaveria was appointed Mistress General of Schools. In 1862, 1868 and 1874, she was elected as General Consultress, to assist M. Scholastica Somers in her three terms as Superior General. M. Scholastics Somers was unable to resume her office as Superior General in January 1880, and M. Xaveria Fallon was elected third Superior General on 3 January 1880. She was re-elected to this office on 2 January 1886, but served only two years, dying on 26 August 1888. Also present in this collection are a series of letters from or relating to the Fallon family, namely correspondence between Mrs M.H. Fallon and M. Teresa Ball and M. Berkmans Lenigan, IBVM, who was also a relation of the Fallon family.

  • Archival History ↴

    The material in this sub-fonds was created by, or received by, M. Xaveria Fallon during her period in office as Superior General of the Institute in Ireland. Material was transferred to the Institute Archives from her death in 1888. The Fallon Family papers were purchased from M. O’Dwyer in October 1999. The papers were held by the Maxwell Wedon, Solicitors, Baggott Street, Dublin on behalf of the Fallon family.

  • Immediate Source Acquisition ↴

    Official Transfer

Content & Structure

  • Scope & Content: M. Xaveria Fallon IBVM & Members of I.B.V.M. (Irish Branch) ↴

    Xaveria Fallon, baptized Jane, was born 6 February 1832, in Ffrenchlawn, Co. Roscommon. Following the death of her father, her widowed mother took the family to her cousin in St Omer in 1840. The Fallon family returned to Ireland in 1848. Jane along with her sisters, Mary and Letitia, attended Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham as boarders, where Jane was seen as a particular favourite of M. Teresa Ball’s. Jane entered Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham in 24 December 1849, entered the novitiate on 1 April 1850 and was finally professed 12 April 1852, taking the name in religion, M. Xaveria. Her sister Mary also entered Loreto Abbey as a postulant, but left and entered Ursuline Convent, Waterford in 1853. Two other sisters entered the Mercy Order, one of whom later became Superior of Geelong Convent in Australia.

    After her profession, M. Xaveria was sent to Lough Cooter, Galway, where she was appointed Mistress of Schools. She was returned to Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnhm in April 1855, appointed Mistress of Novices and later assumed the dual role of Mistress of Novices and Assistant Mistress to M. Teresa Ball until her death in 1861. M. Xaveria was then appointed Mistress General of Schools, introduced reforms to the schools to better meet the educational needs of young ladies. She was elected as General Consultress throughout M. Scholastica Somers three terms as Superior General, 1862, 1868 and 1874. M. Scholastics Somers was unable to resume her office as Superior General in January 1880 due to ill health, and M. Xaveria Fallon was elected third Superior General on 3 January 1880. She was re-elected to this office on 2 January 1886, but served only two years, dying on 26 August 1888. M. Xaveria was plagued with ill-health from her childhood, and the sisters in Ireland and abroad frequently prayed for her health.

    A new system of education, the Intermediate System, had been introduced in Ireland just before M. Xaveria was elected Chief Superior. Cardinal McCabe, fearing the success of Protestant schools, which had adopted the Intermediate System, approached M. Xaveria and asked her to adopt the Intermediate System in Loreto schools. She undertook this challenge, although at this time Catholic schools did not receive any government grants or endowments. The first Loreto pupils sat the Intermediate examinations in July 1880, all in Rathfarnham passed the examinations, four obtained prizes in Senior Grade and one obtained fourth place in all Ireland. M. Xaveria also oversaw the introduction of the ‘Vertical System’ in Loreto schools, each nun concentrated on teaching the subject she was most proficient in, and took steps to ensure that religious education remained a central part of the new curriculum. A new day school was opened in Rathmines in 1881, in Kenilworth Square, the first new house founded in Ireland since the death of M. Teresa Ball. Nutgrove House was also acquired by M. Xaveria Fallon during her term in office.

    The foreign missions were of particular concern to M. Xaveria Fallon, with whom she corresponded frequently. She sent over 48 sisters to foreign missions during her eight years in office, and in 1881, sent M. Aloysius Sweetman as Mother Provincial[1] to India. M. Delphina Harte and M. Joseph Hogan, former Provincials, were exhausted after forty years on the Mission and were eager to retire. The mission in Spain was re-established in Puerto de Santa Maria, Seville in 1887, under M. Stanislaus Murphy.

    M. Xaveria formalised the relationship of the foreign houses with the Generalate, and thereby re-organised the structure of the Institute, re-uniting the foreign houses with Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham. In June 1881, in response to petitions submitted by M. Xaveria, a rescript was issued from the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, allowing for the affiliation of mission houses with Rathfarnham if their local bishops agreed to it. The Canadian houses with their mother house in Toronto opted for independence and, on 25 April 1881 was officially recognised as a separate Generalate.

    M. Xaveria’s letters display her conviction that individual will should be surrendered to God, and lives lived according to His will. M. Xaveria’s correspondence reveals a gentle, warm but firm leader, who expected and encouraged those under her charge, to lead a life devoted to the work of the Institute. M. Xaveria Fallon died on 8 July 1888, after a period of prolonged illness, during which she was anointed in February 1888. During her final illness, she asked the Archbishop of Dublin to allow her to resign her office, but he refused to grant her this request. A biography, ‘A Nuns, Her Friends and Her Order’ was commissioned, and written by Katherine Tynan. A first edition was published in 1891, a second edition was published in 1892.

    Also included in this collection is a series of papers, mostly correspondence originating with or received by members of the Fallon family, namely Mrs M.H. Fallon, M. Xaveria’s mother and other relations of M. Xaveria Fallon. The majority of letters do not relate to the Institute, but refer directly to the Fallon family. The Fallon family had several connections with Loreto Abbey Rathfarnham. Jane, her sisters Mary and Letitia attended as pupils, and her relation, M. Berkmans Lenigan was a close advisor and aid to M. Teresa Ball. Includes letters exchanged between M. Teresa Ball and M. Berkmans Lenigan with Mrs M.H. Fallon, correspondence between Mrs M.H. Fallon and M. de Sales Cooke, St Mary’s Ursuline Convent, Waterford, relating to preparations for Mary Fallon’s (sister of M. Xaveria) profession, mixed letters relating to Fallon family and letter from M. Xaveria Fallon to her brother John in September 1864, written during her mother’s final illness, expressing the depths of her affection for her mother and her sorrow at the imminent loss. Letter from John Fallon written the day before M. Xaveria died, requests some memento from her, ‘she and I were always one’.

    [1] Provincials were first formally appointed, and provinces established in (1913)…….. It had been the practice from the establishment of the first foreign mission by M. Teresa Ball in 1841, that the founding superior exercised all the powers that would later be exercised by Provincial. These early Superiors were regarded as Provincials in all but official title.

  • Accruals ↴

    No Further Accruals Expected

  • Arrangement ↴

    XF/                                         Sub Fonds    M. Xaveria Fallon
    XF/SP                                    Series                    Superior’s Promises
    XF/PET                                  Series                    Petitions to the Vatican
    XF/VOT                                 Series                    Voting

    XF/PRO                                  Series                    Correspondence with the Provinces
    XF/PRO/1                              File                         Canada
    XF/PRO/2                              File                         Ireland
    XF/PRO/3                              File                         Gibraltar
    XF/PRO/4                              File                         India
    XF/PRO/5                              File                         South Africa
    XF/PRO/6                              File                         Australia
    XF/PRO/7                              File                         Mauritius
    XF/PRO/8                              File                         Spain

    XF/LTS                                  Series                    Letters and Correspondence
    XF/LTS/1                              File                         Letters from Dr Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin
    XF/LTS/2                              File                         Letters from Clergy & Other Religious
    XF/LTS/3                              File                         Letters relating to ‘Life of Teresa Ball’
    XF/LTS/4                              File                         Letters to friends
    XF/LTS/5                              File                         Extracts of Letters

    XF/YOR                                 Series                    Letters from York
    XF/BUS                                 Series                    Business Letters
    XF/DEA                                 Series                    Death of M. Xaveria Fallon
    XF/BIO                                  Series                    A Nun and Her Friends (Biography)

    XF/FAM                               Series                    Fallon Family Papers
    XF/FAM/1                           File                         Mrs Fallon Correspondence with M. Teresa Ball
    XF/FAM/2                           File                         Mrs Fallon Correspondence with M. Berkmans Lenigan
    XF/FAM/3                           File                         Mrs Fallon Correspondence with M. de Sales Cooke, Ursuline Convent
    XF/FAM/4                           File                         Letters from M. Aloysius Murphy, Ursuline Convent
    XF/FAM/5                           File                         Fallon Family

Conditions of Access & Use

Access Conditions Generally Open Access; Prior Appointment Only. Some access restrictions may apply, and access is at the discretion of the Archivist
Conditions Governing ReproductionReproduction is dependent on the condition of the original item
Creation Dates1880 – 2005
Level of DescriptionSub Fonds (subdivision of a fonds containing a body of related records corresponding to administrative subdivisions in the originating agency or organization or, when that is not possible, to geographical, chronological, functional, or similar groupings of the material itself. When the creating body has a complex hierarchical structure, each sub-fonds has as many subordinate sub-fonds as are necessary to reflect the levels of the hierarchical structure of the primary subordinate administrative unit. (Sometimes contiguous with an archives ‘collection’ ).
Extent Medium4 Archival Boxes
Material Language ScriptEnglish
Characteristics Tech ReqBound volumes & loose documents. Some items may be difficult to read. Careful handling is required.
Finding Aids Catalogue can be consulted in the IBVM (Institute) & Irish Province Archives, Reading Room

Allied Materials

There are no Allied Materials

Descriptive Control Area

Rules/ConventionsISAD(G)
Date of Descriptions2011