Magdalen Kirwan
Encyclopedia
Magdalen Kirwan, member of the Sisters of Mercy
and manager
of Goldenbridge penal
refuge
, c. 1830 - February 1906.
, (fl.
1488), a Gaelic
-Irish
merchant who established the family in the town of Galway
. She was born at Tobar Caoch (the Blindwell), near Kilconly
, Tuam
, sometime around 1830. Her grandfather was Martin Kirwan of the Blindwell, once High Sheriff
of Galway; his eldest child - one of three sons and two daughters, was Martin Kirwan, who in 1801 married Mary Burke of Glinsk
Castle, County Roscommon
. Their children were Martin Staunton Kirwan (1802–61), James (died 30 May 1865), Thomas Staunton of the Blindwell (alive 1874?), William (died 15 June 1864), Catherine (died 13 January 1866) and Charlotte Margaret, who took the name Magdalen in religion.
Her organisation skills were recognised, and within some eighteen months Kirwan was put in charge of a refuge for women who had served prison sentences and who needed rehabilitation before joining society. This was Goldenbridge, opened in 1856. Sr. Teresa Delaney writes that:
The main source of income was the laundry
run by the sisters.
By 1884 fully one thousand, two hundred and thirty two women had passed though Goldenbridge. According to Kirwan, three quarters of them turned out well. She recounted that many had emigrated, and that she had received many letters and photographs from them, but stated " ... when they marry I drop the correspondence. The moment a woman becomes Mrs. So and So I say 'you must not write to me now' - I drop the correspondence at once." She encouraged the women to tell future husbands of their backgrounds, and in some cases, some requested that she do it for them.
Sr. Magdalen Kirwan died at Goldenbridge in February 1906 and is buried in the sister's cemetery.
, Dublin, Lord Frederick Cavendish
and Thomas Henry Burke
(newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Burke was the Permanent Undersecretary, respectively) were stabbed to death by members of the Irish National Invincibles
. Burke was Kirwan's first cousion. One of those arrested, tried and sentenced to death, Joe Brady, could not bring himself to forgive the informer, though he did forgive the judge, jury, jailers and police for doing their job.
The prison chaplin enslisted the aid of Sr. Magdalen, though it is unknown if he was aware of her relationship with Burke. Up to the time of her last visit on 13 May 1883 - the day before Brady's execution - her efforts to guide him to forgiveness had failed. As she left, she turned at the door and addressed him:
Brady became agitated, proclaiming that It is hard. However, after a pause, he stated that he forgave them. His last wish was that Sr. Magdalen should meet his mother and console her following his execution the next morning.
After her death, John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer
, erected at his own expense a window memorial in memory of Kirwan in the chapel of the Dominicans at Dominick Street, Dublin.
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
and manager
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
of Goldenbridge penal
Penal
Peneral is a town in south Trinidad. It lies south of San Fernando and Debe, and north of Siparia. Originally a rice and cocoa producing area, Penal has grown into an important town in the past few years and is now a desirable place for corporate expansion...
refuge
Halfway house
The purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a...
, c. 1830 - February 1906.
Background
Kirwan was a member of one of The Tribes of Galway, been a descendant of William Ó CiardhubháinWilliam Ó Ciardhubháin
William Ó Ciardhubháin, fl. 1488, was an Irish merchant and the founder of one of The Tribes of Galway.Ó Ciardhubháin is said to have been a native of Dunbally castle, near Dunmore, County Galway...
, (fl.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
1488), a Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
-Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
merchant who established the family in the town of Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
. She was born at Tobar Caoch (the Blindwell), near Kilconly
Kilconly
Kilconly is a small rural village near Tuam which is north of Galway City in County Galway, Ireland. It is situated about seven miles north west of Tuam town on the Ballinrobe road ....
, Tuam
Tuam
Tuam is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The name is pronounced choo-um . It is situated west of the midlands of Ireland, and north of Galway city.-History:...
, sometime around 1830. Her grandfather was Martin Kirwan of the Blindwell, once High Sheriff
High Sheriff
A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...
of Galway; his eldest child - one of three sons and two daughters, was Martin Kirwan, who in 1801 married Mary Burke of Glinsk
Glinsk
Glinsk is a small village in County Galway, in the west of Ireland, between Creggs and Ballymoe. Glinsk is located approximately 68 km from Galway city and approximately 30 km from Roscommon. It is located in valley of the River Suck, which has a 60 mile hiking trail. Nearby is the...
Castle, County Roscommon
County Roscommon
County Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...
. Their children were Martin Staunton Kirwan (1802–61), James (died 30 May 1865), Thomas Staunton of the Blindwell (alive 1874?), William (died 15 June 1864), Catherine (died 13 January 1866) and Charlotte Margaret, who took the name Magdalen in religion.
Profession and Goldenbridge
Charlotte entered the Mercy Convent on Dublin's Baggot Street on 24 August 1851, and was professed there in September 1854. She took the name Magdalen.Her organisation skills were recognised, and within some eighteen months Kirwan was put in charge of a refuge for women who had served prison sentences and who needed rehabilitation before joining society. This was Goldenbridge, opened in 1856. Sr. Teresa Delaney writes that:
It was described as been very unprisonlike in appearance and ... was a halfway house where women serving penal servitude spent the final part of their sentences. Compared to the prison regime the refuge appears to have been fairly relaxed. The person in charge, Sr. Magdalen Kirwan, was known in the usage of the time as Mrs. Kirwan. The success of the institution can be attributed to her, for her manner was described as gentle and winning, yet with a decisive and energetic will to "exercise a powerful influence on those whom she had to control". Someone praised "her frank, motherly nature, active mind and acute intellect, which helped her to deal with a class to whom deception and idleness have become second nature."
The main source of income was the laundry
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
run by the sisters.
By 1884 fully one thousand, two hundred and thirty two women had passed though Goldenbridge. According to Kirwan, three quarters of them turned out well. She recounted that many had emigrated, and that she had received many letters and photographs from them, but stated " ... when they marry I drop the correspondence. The moment a woman becomes Mrs. So and So I say 'you must not write to me now' - I drop the correspondence at once." She encouraged the women to tell future husbands of their backgrounds, and in some cases, some requested that she do it for them.
Sr. Magdalen Kirwan died at Goldenbridge in February 1906 and is buried in the sister's cemetery.
The Phoenix Park Murders
On 6 May 1882 in the Phoenix ParkPhoenix Park
Phoenix Park is an urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying 2–4 km west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its 16 km perimeter wall encloses , one of the largest walled city parks in Europe. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the seventeenth...
, Dublin, Lord Frederick Cavendish
Lord Frederick Cavendish
Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish was an English Liberal politician and protégé of the Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone...
and Thomas Henry Burke
Thomas Henry Burke
Thomas Henry Burke may refer to:*Thomas Henry Burke , Irish Catholic government official in Britain's Irish Office; victim of Phoenix Park Murders...
(newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, and Burke was the Permanent Undersecretary, respectively) were stabbed to death by members of the Irish National Invincibles
Irish National Invincibles
The Irish National Invincibles, usually known as "The Invincibles" were a radical splinter group of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and leading representatives of the Land League movement, both of Ireland and Britain...
. Burke was Kirwan's first cousion. One of those arrested, tried and sentenced to death, Joe Brady, could not bring himself to forgive the informer, though he did forgive the judge, jury, jailers and police for doing their job.
The prison chaplin enslisted the aid of Sr. Magdalen, though it is unknown if he was aware of her relationship with Burke. Up to the time of her last visit on 13 May 1883 - the day before Brady's execution - her efforts to guide him to forgiveness had failed. As she left, she turned at the door and addressed him:
The man you so barbarously killed without a moment's warning, and sent before the judgement of God, was a dear cousion of mine, and I came to tell you I have freely forgiven you and the others who took part in the deed, and so, if I forgive, why not you forgive the informers? Although they swore away your life they did not kill you. You were given plenty of time to repent, so will you now grant my request and forgive them?
Brady became agitated, proclaiming that It is hard. However, after a pause, he stated that he forgave them. His last wish was that Sr. Magdalen should meet his mother and console her following his execution the next morning.
After her death, John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer
John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer
John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer KG, PC , known as Viscount Althorp from 1845 to 1857 , was a British Liberal Party politician under and close friend of British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone...
, erected at his own expense a window memorial in memory of Kirwan in the chapel of the Dominicans at Dominick Street, Dublin.
Reference
- The Tuam Herald, 24 August 1974.
- The Treatment of Women Sentenced to Transportation and Penal Servitute 1790-1898, Rena Lohan, thesis.
- The Tribes of Galway, Adrian James Martyn, Galway, 2001.
- Sister Magdalen Kirwan - a link with the Invincibles, Sr. Teresa Delaney, Journal of the Old Tuam Society, volume one, 2004.
- The Kirwans of Castlehacket, Co. Galway:History, folklore and mythology in an Irish horseracing family, Ronan Lynch, Four Courts PressFour Courts PressFour Courts Press is an Irish academic publishing house.It was founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, a managing director at the Irish Academic Press and a member of Opus Dei. Its early publications were primarily theological, notably the English translation of the Navarre Bible...
, Dublin, 2006. ISBN 1 84682 028 6
External links
- http://www.cflr.beniculturali.it/Patrimonio/IstitutiCulturali/cpi_new/serie/scheda.php?r=6908
- http://www.mic.ul.ie/makingadifference/mcauleymedal.htm
- http://www.history.ul.ie/archive/cullen/section40/40-5,%20%20Nuns%20%20to%20%20Moran,%2020-43.pdf
- http://www.history.ul.ie/archive/cullen/section340/340-9%20nuns%2017-30.pdf